


our bones are brittle (but they won't break)

by listentokels



Series: we built each other together [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: And titles, Before Olympics, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Getting Together, I Tried, I hope, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm tired lol, Iwa & Oikawa BFFs, M/M, Not even sure the continuity works in here, Oikawa Tooru-centric, Pining, Post-Time Skip, Romance, Slow Burn, and summaries, i guess, lots of fluff, sorry - Freeform, why did i use the same words over and over ugh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:07:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28226616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/listentokels/pseuds/listentokels
Summary: Oikawa experiences a change in perspective which eventually leads him exactly where he wants to be, even if he didn’t quite know where that was at first.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime & Oikawa Tooru, Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru
Series: we built each other together [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2082102
Comments: 31
Kudos: 223





	our bones are brittle (but they won't break)

**November 17, 2018**

The soft caress of morning rays stream through his bedside window, and Oikawa feels their warmth on his back as he lazily grabs the corner of his laptop and pulls it towards himself. It falls from his nightstand and onto his bed with a light bounce. He closes his eyes, tired from even that little amount of effort, and feels himself drifting.

His alarm goes off, and he groans. While he has to commend his past self from nine minutes ago for having the foresight to hit the snooze button, he hardly feels like he deserves it when the noise is keeping him away from his precious sleep. 

Oikawa blindly reaches for his phone, haphazardly thrown somewhere amongst his many pillows, in order to stop the noise. When his hand curls around it, he immediately clicks the home button and basks in the silence it gives him. Before he can drift off again, he brings the phone to his face and opens one eye to peek at the time. 7:15 AM.

Groaning once more, Oikawa musters the energy to push himself into a sitting position. He opens his laptop and types in his password. It takes more than one try, his fingers still clumsy and sleep heavy. With some effort, he pulls up his favorite sports streaming site, finds the match he wants, and clicks. 

Sliding back fully under his comforter, Oikawa rolls onto his stomach and pulls a pillow underneath himself to support his head. He settles in and waits. The stream hasn’t started yet so Oikawa turns the volume up so it’ll wake him in case he drifts off again.

He’s exhausted from attending a teammate’s dinner party the night before. It was a great team bonding experience, but he really shouldn’t have stayed after the shot glasses were pulled out. The captain had ducked out immediately. He’s a smart man. But being the life of the party is Oikawa’s modus operandi, so he couldn’t just refuse.

Blinking blearily at the screen, his mouth stretches into a big yawn. He snuggles into his pillow to rest his eyes. After about five minutes, the tinny sound of a crowd cheering jolts him back to the land of the living. Oikawa opens his eyes to squint at the screen. It looks like the stream provider missed the player introductions this game, so the match is already about to begin.

Oikawa listens as the announcers talk about Hinata and Kageyama’s high school connection, and almost wishes he could be in Sendai for this game. No doubt some of his own high school friends are in the audience. He wonders, if he had chosen to stay in Japan, if he’d be on one of the teams on the court in Kamei Arena today. Probably the Jackals just to spite Ushijima. He can just imagine the man saying, “You should have joined the Adlers.”

Or maybe Ushijima is content with Kageyama’s sets. After all, between Oikawa and Kageyama, only one of them has been to the Olympics. 

Oikawa remembers watching him back then, a familiar, ugly, and dark emotion swirling through his entire body, gripping at his heart. Kageyama, the backup setter for Japan at the time, holding up the starting setter’s number. It hit too close to home.

He had lied to Hinata, just a month before that, about watching Kageyama play. It only became the truth after the Rio Olympics. He couldn’t let that ugly feeling control him like it did once before. He couldn’t dwell on the other man anymore; couldn’t let himself feel stifled in his shadows. He knew he could become stronger. So he did.

Awake now, Oikawa watches as the little figures on the screen line up for the start of the game. 

The whistle blows.

He doesn’t expect it, when it happens. Never would have thought in a million years. When the stream cuts to a close up of Kageyama for the first serve of the game, his breath catches. It’s been over two years since he’s seen even a glimpse of the other man, and he’s different now. A little older, a little broader. Confident in a way he wasn’t back in high school or at the beginning of his career. He knows exactly who he is as a volleyball player now, and it’s visible in the glint of his eyes and in every little movement he makes. When he jumps and slams his hand into the ball for his serve, Oikawa thinks that he’s seen perfection. It’s beautiful. _He’s_ beautiful.

Oikawa finds that he can’t look away.

⛩️

When the match finishes, Oikawa shuts his laptop in a daze and stares into the empty space where the screen used to be. The Schweiden Adlers had lost and Oikawa wasn’t even celebrating it like he would have once upon a time. Instead, he finds himself wishing that the game was still going just so he could see Kageyama playing a little longer.

He wishes he could be in Sendai, stepping down onto the court with a wave and a greeting for his kohai. Just like old times.

His phone buzzes a few times in a row. He glances at it to see text notifications from Hinata. It’s then that Oikawa realizes that he hadn’t spent the game analyzing the plays like he usually does. He’d been too captivated by the Adlers’ number 20.

Oikawa guiltily leaves Hinata on read, unable to actually provide any commentary on the match, and sprawls out onto his bed. When he closes his eyes, he swears he can see an imprint of Kageyama’s jump serve on the back of his eyelids. Every glimpse and every moment of Kageyama during the match is seared into his mind. He can’t stop thinking about him.

A constant vibration draws Oikawa out of his thoughts and he picks up his phone to see Hinata Shoyo across the top. Hesitating for only a moment, he decides that he can attempt to fake his way through any questions, so he picks up the call.

“Shoyo, hey! Congrats on the win!” Oikawa says cheerily in greeting.

“Oika-senpai, did you watch? You weren’t responding to my texts so I thought you might have slept through it!” Hinata replies excitedly.

“Of course I watched. You asked me to after all!” Oikawa says with a smile, and then freezes when he hears a familiar, yet slightly deeper voice floating through the phone.

“Oi, Hinata! Did you want to go eat with us or not? You know we’ll leave without you!”

“Whoops, I gotta go, Oika-senpai! Thanks for watching! We’ll talk again soon and you can let me know if you have any new tips for me, ‘kay?” Hinata exclaims before hanging up without waiting for a response.

Oikawa pulls the phone away from his ear and chuckles at the whirlwind that is Hinata Shoyo. Kageyama saved him from a possibly awkward conversation. He’ll have to watch a recording of the match again soon so he can actually give Hinata tips. Back in high school, he never would have guessed that he’d be friends with Chibi-chan. Things really have changed.

Left to his own thoughts once again, he drops the phone back onto his bed and thinks about hearing Kageyama’s voice just now. He wonders if he’ll hear it in person again soon.

Abruptly, Oikawa shifts into a sitting position, opens his laptop, and pulls up his browser to look for old recordings of the Adlers’ games. He begins downloading a few of them. Opening a new tab, Oikawa pulls up Kageyama’s stats.

It’s different now, the idea of watching Kageyama play. Oikawa still views him as a rival; as someone he wants to face again on the court someday. He just also has a desire to see and learn more about this new confident, beautiful Kageyama.

Oikawa clutches at his comforter with one hand and throws it off of himself. Taking his laptop over to his desk, he plugs it in so that his downloads will continue while he’s out.

With a firm nod, to himself, he says, “I need to play against him at least one more time.”

He rummages through his closet, grabbing his athletic wear, and heads to his bathroom to prepare for the day. 

He needs to head to the court.

**November 18, 2018**

The next day, back in bed and laying on his back with his phone held above his face, Oikawa taps through his apps.

At practice earlier that morning, everyone had complimented Oikawa on his nasty serves and perfect sets, telling him that he seemed to be in peak form. Having barely slept the night before, Oikawa still wasn’t all that surprised, because he knew exactly why he was playing so well.

He scrolls through the YouTube videos that pulled up from his search, looking for ones that he hasn’t watched yet. He’s already seen a lot of the highlight reels of amazing plays.

He finds a 30 minute long promotional interview that he’s only seen clips of before. It includes all the members of the Adlers.

Oikawa watches the way Kageyama stutters through some of his answers, awkward at first, while some of the other Adlers poke fun at him and Ushijima for being so taciturn all the time. His confidence apparently disappears when he’s not on the court, but it’s endearing. Plenty of fans think so too, as evidenced by the many comments saying so under the video.

The stilted answers continue on similarly as they go through questions, but as the seconds count down on the video, Kageyama also seems to loosen up. One of his other teammates starts a story about a particularly rowdy bus trip to an away game and Oikawa sees the slow upward curve of Kageyama’s lips as he listens. His heart skips a beat.

He recalls a time long ago when he had been on the receiving end of that smile, but was too preoccupied with himself to really appreciate it the way he can now. He can’t recall ever seeing it again in person, even directed at someone else.

Oikawa drags his finger across the screen, back to the shot of the smile, and pauses the video. He stares.

“Kageyama Tobio,” he thinks. “What are you doing to me?”

**November 20, 2018**

A few minutes before 9:00 PM, Iwaizumi plugs in his phone and sets it down on his bedside table. After a quick stretch, he climbs into bed and settles in for a good night’s rest.

When he started university, Iwaizumi had created a routine for himself in order to make sure he stayed well-rested and on top of his increasingly difficult coursework. He kept to it after he graduated. It did wonders for his productivity, and he wants to achieve his goals of becoming the best in Japan. He’s aiming for the national team after all.

Of course, with unknown factors, keeping to the routine isn’t always easy, but Iwaizumi manages well enough once all his friends learned his schedule. Apparently it’s too much to ask of certain people though. 

There’s only one person in the whole world who doesn’t seem to respect this routine. That’s how he knows exactly who’s calling when his phone begins to vibrate on his end table just as he’s started to fall asleep.

He could just ignore it, but the asshole isn’t the type to give up. Better to get it over with. Iwaizumi twists to grab the phone off his end table and swipes to answer.

“Shittykawa, this better be fucking important or I’m going to leave your ass stranded at the airport next time you call me for a ride.”

“Ehhh! Iwa-chan, why do you always call me such mean names? Don’t you miss me at all?” the man on the other end of the line responds.

“Because you’re a shitty person,” Iwaizumi deadpans.

“Hmph, see if I bring you back any cool souvenirs when I visit!” Oikawa pouts.

Iwaizumi sighs. “Oikawa. Why are you calling me when you know perfectly well that this is past my bedtime?”

The line is quiet other than the faint sound of rustling that indicates that Oikawa is still there. So this is serious, Iwaizumi thinks. He waits patiently for Oikawa to start.

“...Do you ever see Tobio-chan when you’re working?” Oikawa finally says. Iwaizumi can hear the hesitation in his voice.

Kageyama Tobio was not the topic Iwaizumi expected. Not in 2018. Oikawa used to be so obsessed with the other man, but he never brings him up anymore. Something’s wrong. Iwaizumi sincerely hopes he hasn’t regressed. The resentment he held onto during their youth was seriously unhealthy.

“Oikawa, what brought this on?” Iwaizumi asks sharply and is greeted with silence once again. 

He hears Oikawa cough lightly, before he says with a small voice, “I’m just wondering how he’s been, that’s all.”

Iwaizumi is stunned by the way Oikawa is acting. He’s so rarely unsure of himself. Does he really just want to check up on Kageyama?

“I interviewed with a few teams last week including the Schweiden Adlers. Kageyama and I had lunch afterwards,” Iwaizumi decides to disclose.

“You had lunch with Tobio-chan? Why didn’t you tell me?” Oikawa yells, and Iwaizumi has to pull his phone away from his ear briefly at the volume.

“You know why I didn’t tell you. I thought you were over this?” Iwaizumi bites back.

“What’s that supposed to mean? I just want to know how my precious idiot kohai is doing,” Oikawa grumbles.

Iwaizumi sighs. He has a feeling he’ll be doing a lot of sighing tonight. “He’s doing well. Did you watch his match against the Jackals? Is that what brought this on?”

“Yes! And I haven’t stopped thinking about him since and it’s driving me crazy. What’s wrong with me, Iwa-chan? Do you think I need to go to a doctor?” Oikawa whines.

“I’m sure they’d be happier to entertain your various delusions than me,” Iwaizumi states, moving to sit up on the edge of his bed. This definitely isn’t where he thought this conversation would go.

“Iwa-chan, I seriously think I have a problem. I hadn’t seen him in two years when I turned on that match, and I wasn’t expecting him to look like that!” Oikawa yells. “Why didn’t you warn me?”

“Warn you about what exactly? The follies of getting older?” Iwaizumi asks, exasperated. Oikawa’s gone off the deep end. It’s the only explanation.

“No! How can you not see it? Iwa-chan, remember when Kageyama used to be a gross little caterpillar that I wanted to crush under my heels?”

“I don’t think you ever said it quite like that, but okay. Sure. I remember,” Iwaizumi humors him.

“Don’t you get it? I saw that really stupid curry commercial he did and I thought it was the most awful thing I’ve ever seen, but at least he looks hot in it,” Oikawa pauses there, and then wails, “He’s hot now, Iwa-chan!”

Iwaizumi looks up towards the ceiling, questioning why life gave him Oikawa, of all people, as a best friend.

“I’m really glad it took you over a decade to come to this realization,” Iwaizumi states. “I don’t know what I would have done if you thought this back at Kitagawa. He was way too young back then.”

“I’m only two years older than him!” Oikawa protests.

“Yeah, I guess with how slow your brain develops, you were probably right around the same age actually.”

Oikawa squawks indignantly at the insult and Iwaizumi starts laughing. “Did you really just compare Kageyama to a butterfly?”

“The metaphor fits, okay?!”

“If you guys start dating, I’m definitely putting this conversation in my blackmail arsenal,” Iwaizumi informs, grinning widely.

“Ugh, who said anything about dating?” Oikawa scoffs, but Iwaizumi knows him, and he can hear the facade he’s putting on.

“We both know you’re only talking to me right now because you’re considering something serious. Otherwise I’d be finding out about it in fun other ways.”

Iwaizumi grimaces as he recalls the Argentinian fling who called from Oikawa’s phone to threaten him in broken English to stay away from Oikawa.

“You’re wrong!” Oikawa yells, much too energetically.

Iwaizumi doesn’t bother to answer. It doesn’t take long.

Oikawa sighs heavily. “Fine. Maybe I wouldn’t mind seeing if it’s a possibility. He’s gorgeous and he plays volleyball. It’s a win-win.”

Iwaizumi smirks.

Oikawa groans. “Do you think I actually have a chance? Also, why are you not surprised by this?”

Iwaizumi runs a hand through his hair, thinking for a second before replying, “Let’s start with that second question first. I guess I always thought it could go this way. Not at the beginning because, let’s face it, you were a little crazy to him, and we were young. But you still talked about him constantly.”

Iwaizumi pauses, but gets no protests so he continues.

“In our third year at Aoba Johsai, I remember when coach gave you the list of incoming first years. You didn’t say anything to me, but then we suddenly had a practice match with Karasuno. You practiced so hard before it that you sprained your ankle. I was so confused until I saw him across the court.”

Iwaizumi recalls that day, and Oikawa’s eventual grand entrance.

“When you arrived, coach said you asked for Kageyama to be in that game. You found out where he was going when you saw that he didn’t come to Seijoh, didn’t you?”

“I just wanted to crush him on the court at a high school level!” Oikawa exclaims.

“Yeah, but you were also mad he didn’t come to Seijoh. You complained that it was because you couldn’t watch his progress, but you actually liked playing against him so that never made any sense. I thought maybe back then you were attracted to him.”

“I wasn’t!” Oikawa exclaims. 

Iwaizumi snickers. “Yeah. Just found out today that it’s because you thought he was a gross little caterpillar back then.”

Oikawa huffs, and Iwaizumi can just imagine him pouting. 

Calmly, Iwaizumi adds, “You really hated him back then. So let’s talk about your first question.”

Oikawa goes quiet, nervousness bleeding into his voice. “Was I really that awful to him? Do you think he hates me now?”

Iwaizumi sighs before standing up and stretching. He heads out of his bedroom into the kitchen. “Hold on,” he says as he walks. “I need a drink.”

Oikawa is deathly silent on the other end of the line. He’s no doubt thinking the worst, but Iwaizumi thinks he deserves it. All actions have consequences, and Oikawa _should_ consider what his past actions might affect. It doesn’t mean that Iwaizumi doesn’t hope for the best for his friend though.

Grabbing a beer from his fridge, Iwaizumi pops the tab and sits down on the couch in his living room. He takes a quick swig, sighs once more, and begins.

“I’ve been telling you for years that you’re a crappy guy, Oikawa. For lots of reasons. And some of the worst of that was when we were at Kitagawa Daiichi when you were completely in your own head. You definitely focused a lot of that shitty personality of yours towards Kageyama. And he still followed you around like you hung the moon,” Iwaizumi starts.

“He really wanted to learn my jump serve so bad,” Oikawa mumbles.

He takes another swig of his beer before he continues, ignoring Oikawa’s comment. “But you got better in high school. At least with the volleyball stuff. You stopped being stupid about pushing yourself. You were still kind of stupid with Kageyama. But it wasn’t as bad. Just typical rival behavior, you know? I can’t actually tell you how Kageyama feels about it without outright asking him, but every time I’ve seen him recently, he asks me how you’re doing. I don’t think he’s that hung up on the past anymore.”

“He asks about me?,” Oikawa murmurs, obviously in thought.

Iwaizumi rolls his eyes even though no one is there to see him. Of course that’s what he focuses on.

“Well, I never thought you were the only one with an obsession. So I actually do think you have a chance,” Iwaizumi responds, and takes another sip of his beer. “Except for the part where you’re on the other side of the world, of course.”

The line goes silent.

“Oh my god, did you forget that you don’t even live in the same country anymore?” Iwaizumi exclaims.

“Shut up, I was preoccupied with everything else!”

“How do you survive without me, Trashykawa?”

“Iwa-chan, can you stop with the awful nicknames already?” Oikawa yells, and Iwaizumi laughs, teasing his best friend about his idiocy and newfound crush.

He’s going to be tired tomorrow during work, but that’s okay. Sometimes you make concessions when your friend needs you to be there for them.

**November 30, 2018**

Oikawa taps Sendai Airport into the search bar on his laptop and scrolls through the available flights. They’re expensive, since he’s looking so close to Christmas and the New Year, but Oikawa hadn’t been planning to go back originally. While his parents aren’t the happiest that he doesn’t usually go home for the New Year, he’s never cared much for the holiday. Other than his mom, his family has never really liked visiting shrines or temples together. Plus, it feels crazy to leave the warmth and sun of Argentina in December for the colder weather of Japan.

Oikawa has to be feeling crazy this year though. In fact, he knows he’s definitely crazy. He leans over to pull his wallet off his end table and pulls out his credit card. Clicking through for the cheapest flight he could find, he groans at the multi-day trip before confirming his order. Shutting his laptop, he falls back on his bed, legs still crossed, and stares up at his ceiling. 

In a few weeks, he’s going to be back in Japan. He’s missed it, honestly. He doesn’t go back enough. His parents, sister, and Takeru will be happy to see him a lot sooner than past years. It’ll be nice to see Iwaizumi and some of his old high school friends when he’s there too.

The other person on his mind, the one he thinks about constantly nowadays, he’s not sure he’ll run into. And when he does eventually, will he like what he sees? There’s something familiar when he watches videos, but he knows there must be changes after all these years too. Will those changes shatter the image he has in his mind?

Oikawa is standing on a precipice, staring into the unknown, wondering if he should jump. He’s never struggled with seeing the path ahead before, and it terrifies him. But he still considers it. Still thinks there might be something worth it at the bottom.

Shaking off his train of thought, Oikawa gets up from his bed and heads over to his kitchen counter where his cell phone is. As much as he wants to find out what might be ahead, it’s unlikely it’ll happen in the next couple months.

He shoots off a text to Iwaizumi before grabbing vegetables from his fridge to start prepping his dinner. 

> **Me**
> 
> Iwa-chan~ Hope you’re ready for a super fun couple of weeks! Pick me up at SDJ on December 19th??╰( ･ ᗜ ･ )╯

Iwaizumi responds while Oikawa is sauteing his vegetables, so after he pours in water and has to wait for it to boil, he checks his phone.

> **Iwa-chan**
> 
> You’ve got to be kidding me. You do know I live and work in Tokyo, right? I wasn’t planning on heading back to Miyagi until the 22nd

Oikawa pouts.

> **Me**
> 
> Iwa-chan!!! I never come back for the New Year. There aren’t any matches so take the extra time off!!!!!!!! (●o≧д≦)o

The responding ellipses bubble pops up immediately and Oikawa waits for Iwaizumi’s text.

> **Iwa-chan**
> 
> You’re going to fucking owe me, Crappykawa. And stop using so many exclamation marks you heathen

Oikawa cheers and pumps his fist in celebration.

> **Me**
> 
> Yay! See you soon (/^▽^)/

Humming a random earworm he’s heard a lot on the radio lately, Oikawa finishes up cooking his curry. He tries not to think about why he’s been craving curry so often lately.

**December 10, 2018**

He’s out picking up boxes of alfajores and bottles of malbec to bring back to Japan as gifts for his friends and family when it catches his eye. It’s at a stall a few down from where he’s standing, perched on the corner of the table as if calling to him.

He walks over and runs his hand along the stitching, then smoothes his fingers down its back. It’s cute.

A brown stuffed leather cow.

It’s a reminder of the large amount of cattle in his current home country. At the same time, he has distinct memories of cutely labeled milk boxes bought from vending machines in the place he’ll always call home.

He waves the shopkeeper over and haggles on the price before paying and tucking it into his tote bag.

Patting the new lump in his bag, he continues on his way.

**December 19, 2018**

Oikawa rocks back and forth on his heels as he stands at the baggage claim in Sendai, mouth stretching into a yawn, when he hears a voice shouting “Oika-senpai!” to his right. He turns to see a bright orange-haired person wrapped up in a green oversized scarf and black puffy coat running towards him.

“Oika-senpai, it is you! You’re back in Japan?” Hinata says once he’s in front of Oikawa. He holds his arms open and Oikawa chuckles as he moves in to hug him.

“Yes, I’m back! I was missing Japan at the end of November, so I booked a last minute trip,” Oikawa explains, patting Hinata on the back before separating. “It’s good to see you. What are you doing at the airport?”

“Ah, Nishinoya-senpai is coming back from, um. I think either somewhere in Italy or Greece. He’s only staying for a few days so I’m picking him up and taking him to a Karasuno reunion before he goes home!” Hinata explains.

“Oh, well say hello to them all for me,” Oikawa says, and then winces when he remembers that Kageyama will be there. Luckily Hinata doesn’t notice.

“Is someone coming to get you? You can come with us if you want!” Hinata says and Oikawa can’t help but to smile again. His infectious enthusiasm certainly isn’t limited to just volleyball.

“Iwa-chan should be here soon, but thanks for the offer. Let’s plan to catch up one of these days, okay? I’ll be here until January 4th,” Oikawa replies.

Hinata nods vigorously. “I’ll text you! Let’s go get ramen!”

Oikawa flicks Hinata on the forehead, and the shorter man shouts, “Uwaaa, what was that for!”

“You have too much energy, Shoyo. Don’t decide what we’re going to eat before we decide on when!” Oikawa scolds, but he’s smiling.

“Fine,” Hinata grumbles. “I gotta head back over to the escalators to get Nishinoya-senpai. I left Asahi-san by himself.”

He pulls out a folded sign from his coat that has a crudely drawn picture of Karasuno’s ex-libero on it, along with his name written in romaji in large block letters. Hinata grins proudly and Oikawa shakes his head in amusement. They say their goodbyes and Hinata bounds off. 

Oikawa stares after him, wondering what the chances were that he would run into Hinata of all people within his first hour back in the country.

Oikawa turns his attention back to the baggage claim where he can see his suitcases are on the belt, probably not on their first trip around.

After lugging his two suitcases off the belt, Oikawa heads over to the windows to peer out at the lines of cars in the pickup lane. He feels his phone vibrating in his pocket and pulls it out to see that Iwaizumi is calling.

“Hi, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa answers cheerily.

“Since I’m late, I’m guessing you’ve landed fine and probably have your luggage by now,” Iwaizumi answers. “I’m coming up in the line.”

Oikawa peeks out the window again and spots Iwaizumi’s car coming around the bend. “I see you! See you in person in a few seconds, Iwa-chan!”

Oikawa hangs up and heads out to Iwaizumi’s car for the hour-long car ride home.

**December 21, 2018**

Takeru runs ahead of him as they walk to the nearby shopping district. Upon Oikawa’s arrival home on Wednesday, Takeru had been so excited, he didn’t let Oikawa take a nap until he promised that he’d take Takeru to the sports store. According to Oikawa’s sister, when Takeru had found out that his uncle would be home in December, he could not stop talking about all the extra volleyball practice he was going to get. It makes Oikawa happy to see his nephew share his love of volleyball.

As they enter the store, Oikawa nods at the shop assistant that greets them and looks around to see the layout isn’t quite the same as the last time he’d been into the store. Heading to the back wall where Takeru had beelined, Oikawa freezes when he spots a familiar figure looking at gym bags a few feet away. Before he can even start panicking, the figure looks up at him and he spots the slight widening of their deep, blue eyes.

“O-Oikawa-san,” Kageyama stutters, dropping his hands to his side and straightening up to face him. “What are you doing here?”

Oikawa drinks in the sight of the man in front of him. He’s in running gear, an outfit Oikawa has never seen him in before. It looks good on him. Briefly, Oikawa thinks of how much it feels like he’s meeting an idol. In the past month, he’s been enough of a fan for Kageyama to feel like he’s meeting a celebrity. And the other man is certainly pretty enough to be one. Seeing him in person, Oikawa realizes that his videos and photos, even the professional shots, don’t do him justice.

Oikawa swallows roughly and pastes a smile on his face. “Hi, Tobio-chan! Long time no see! How is my precious kohai doing?”

He keeps the grimace from his face. He wants to be genuinely happy to see the other man, but he’s so nervous, he’s not sure he can manage.

“Oh. Um. I’m good. How...how are you and Argentina?” Kageyama asks shyly.

Kageyama seems as socially awkward as ever. He’s fidgeting with the hem of his jacket and not making eye contact. A sense of relief washes over Oikawa to see that some things never change. He’s not sure if he could handle Kageyama being as confident as he seems to be on the court nowadays. This awkward, shy man in front of him reminds him of the boy he once knew. Although he never thought so back then, it’s a cute look on the other man.

“Oikawa-san?” Kageyama says worriedly, now peering at Oikawa’s face.

Oikawa rubs at the back of his neck, laughing sheepishly. He’d spaced out thinking of Kageyama and forgot to answer.

“Oh, haha. I could tell you so much about Argentina, Tobio-chan! But it would be rude of us to just spend our time chatting away in this store,” Oikawa says, ready to invite Kageyama out to catch up. Movement to his left catches his eye and he pauses, glancing in that direction. He frowns as he spots a sales associate hovering nearby, staring at them intently. Perhaps a fan of Japan’s national team setter?

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Kageyama says politely, and Oikawa quickly turns back to look at him, noticing that he actually seems to have drawn away, a few steps further back than he was before.

Oikawa sighs. No matter what Iwaizumi says, Oikawa is pretty sure Kageyama thinks he’s an asshole if a few simple words garner this kind of reaction.

“Hey, no. Why are you sorry? What I meant was...I’m here with my nephew. Do you remember Takeru? He wants new volleyball shoes and then we’re going for lunch. You can join us and we can catch up?” Oikawa suggests, hoping that Kageyama accepts. This is a chance he doesn’t want to waste.

Kageyama seems to perk up a little at the words “catch up”, but then he shakes his head. Oikawa wishes he could rewind this Kageyama so he could dissect that tiny moment of what he thinks was excitement on Kageyama’s face before his refusal. In fact, pausing him before he could refuse would be even better.

“I wouldn’t want to intru--” Kageyama begins when they’re interrupted by Takeru who has a box of shoes in his arms. “Tooru, I want these! I can jump really high in them!”

When he spots who Oikawa is talking to, his jaw drops, and he nearly drops the shoes. “You’re Kageyama Tobio! You’re, like, Japan’s best setter!” he yells rather loudly.

Kageyama’s cheeks flush a nice shade of red. It’s pretty on his fair features. He stutters out a “hey” directed at Takeru, waving awkwardly, and Oikawa snickers. Kageyama glares at him. That feels familiar too. All of his lingering nerves dissipate, and he opens his mouth to invite Kageyama to join them again.

“Ahem,” a voice behind Oikawa says, and he turns to see the store associate from before is next to them now.

It turns out, she isn’t an associate, but rather the store owner who dislikes loud kids in her store. Nevermind that two of them are grown men now. Oikawa remembers her now, from years ago when Iwaizuimi and him had gotten into an argument and been kicked out.

After the three of them apologize for “loitering” around the store and “causing a minor disturbance”, Oikawa grabs the box of shoes from Takeru’s arms and heads over the register. Kageyama trails behind them, holding a new U Cokkei bag pretty similar to the one he used to always carry in high school. It must be a favorite brand.

As the cashier scans the shoes, Oikawa turns and snatches the bag from Kageyama’s hands to give to the cashier as well.

“Oikawa-san! What are you doing?” Kageyama whispers sharply, aware that the store owner is still hovering nearby, keeping an eye on them.

Oikawa ignores Kageyama and asks the cashier to place the two items in separate bags before swiping his card to pay for the purchase. He turns his head and smiles at Kageyama. “It’s your birthday tomorrow, isn’t it? What kind of senpai would I be if I didn’t get my precious kohai a birthday present?”

He may have memorized Kageyama’s birthday from the Adlers’ website. 

It came in handy, because it gifts Oikawa with a confused and blushing Kageyama. Oikawa feels his fingers twitching at his side, tempted to brush over the other’s reddened checks to feel the warmth emanating from them. He wishes he could take a picture. Years ago, he used to rile Kageyama up to garner his glares and face-twisting pouts, but he really should have been teasing him to get these expressions instead. Maybe then, he would have noticed the youthful beauty beneath Kageyama’s perpetual grouchy expression earlier.

When they exit the store, Takeru hops up and down in front of Kageyama excitedly and starts bombarding him with questions.

“Are you going to come eat with us? Can you tell me how you became a professional volleyball player? What’s Romero like? Can you come practice with me and Tooru?”

Oikawa snickers once more at Kageyama’s expression, simultaneously panicked and surprised. Kageyama looks over at him, obviously uncomfortable and eyes pleading for help. Third time’s the charm, and Oikawa won’t give him a choice this time. He smirks and sing-songs, “Guess you’re eating with us, Tobio-chan! I’m pretty sure if you don’t, he’ll try to follow you home.”

And that’s how they end up at a McDonald’s for lunch. 

“I haven’t had junk food in so long,” Oikawa moans, savoring his french fries as if they were a gourmet meal.

Kageyama nods in agreement. “I usually eat it once a year when Hinata drags me out for it.”

Takeru gasps. “Do you mean Hinata Shoyo? The one you used to do the freak quick with? He was so cool in the game against your team! But I still like the Adlers better, of course.”

Oikawa throws a french fry at Takeru, pouting. “I get that you don’t watch Argentinian volleyball, but I talk to you about the Japanese volleyball players that I’m friends with all the time and you always ignore me!”

Takeru sticks his tongue out at Oikawa and then gleefully eats the french fry which had bounced off his chest onto his tray. “It’s because Kageyama-san is so much cooler than you!”

“You know that Shoyo and I played beach volleyball together in Brazil, right?” Oikawa pouts again.

“And Oikawa-san is one of the best setters I know,” Kageyama says, and Oikawa’s head whips over to look at him, lips parting in an inaudible “oh”.

Did Kageyama really mean that? Oikawa knows that the other man never gave undeserved praise when he was younger, but he doesn’t know this version of Kageyama well enough to know if that still holds true. Either way, Oikawa can’t help the little curl of happiness he feels from hearing it.

Takeru looks at Kageyama, eyebrows furrowed. “Really? But you’ve been to the Olympics!” he exclaims.

Kageyama nods, expression serious. “I admire his play style. I learned a lot in middle school and high school watching your uncle play. I still watch his matches all the time. I asked him for advice years ago when you were with him, remember?”

“Wow!” comes the response from Takeru. “I still think Tooru is lame, but if you say he’s a good setter then he must be good!” Takeru says and Oikawa throws another french fry at him which he catches expectantly this time. 

While Takeru becomes engrossed in his meal again, Oikawa tries to catch Kageyama’s eye, wanting to understand if the other man truly still admires him like he once did in middle school. Oikawa still admires him too. Even if his admiration manifested as jealousy all those years ago, he’s figured it out now. Kageyama doesn’t look his way.

They finish their meals with Oikawa and Takeru making up most of the conversation and Kageyama interjecting every once in a while to answer questions Takeru throws out at him. It’s comfortable. As the time passes, Oikawa feels a warmth unfurling in his chest and a sense of relief settling into his bones. He’s been given a chance. He’s glad he came back to Japan. He really did miss it.

⛩️

It’s a little warmer outside when they head back out, and Takeru is chattering away at Kageyama who Oikawa thinks might be as reluctant to part as he is based on the slow pace they set. Oikawa leads them towards his sister’s house to drop Takeru off and listens as Takeru badgers Kageyama into agreeing to come practice volleyball with them next Friday.

When they make it to Oikawa’s sister’s place, Takeru grabs the bag from the sports store from Oikawa’s hand before hugging Kageyama quickly and running through the gates. When he reaches the door, he turns and runs back to hug Oikawa as well, yelling a quick “Thank you, Tooru!” before heading back inside.

“What a brat,” Oikawa mumbles, but he’s smiling. He turns to Kageyama. “He kind of reminds me of you in your middle school days, Tobio-chan. Super eager to learn. It’s endearing.”

“Endearing?” Kageyama questions, head tilting.

Oikawa ignores him. No reason to get into any topic that might veer towards how Oikawa finds himself feeling about the man. 

“I saw the Jackal vs Adlers match last month. You were pretty impressive,” Oikawa says instead.

“Thanks. I, um, saw your game against La Union. You were really good,” Kageyama responds.

Oikawa manages to keep the surprise from showing on his face. So Kageyama _was_ being honest earlier. Even though he knew Iwaizumi was right about the two of them being a bit obsessed with each other, Oikawa still can’t find it in himself to believe that Kageyama, after all this time, still sees him as someone worth watching. In his high school career, he never even managed to go to nationals, and the other man went all three years. And of course, there’s the Olympics.

Oikawa knows he’s good and could probably go toe-to-toe with Kageyama and win. He’s determined to eventually do just that. He didn’t go to Argentina for no reason. He just never expected that Kageyama would keep following his career.

“You watch my matches?” Oikawa asks, nudging Kageyama with his elbow teasingly. Kageyama stumbles slightly from the unexpected contact before righting himself. He starts walking and Oikawa follows.

“I told you I do,” he responds softly, and Oikawa peeks at his face to see that he’s deep in thought about something. Oikawa is curious, but keeps himself from breaking the silence. It’s not uncomfortable.

“I didn’t know where you went after high school until Hinata texted me two years ago,” Kageyama finally says, and Oikawa glances over again to see that he looks almost like he’s upset.

Wary of voicing his concern, Oikawa chuckles instead and says, “Ahaha, Shoyo sent that selfie to everyone. I got so many Line messages.”

Kageyama slows to a stop, and Oikawa stops too, turning back to face him. Kageyama’s brows furrow in thought and he’s fidgeting with his hem again, looking at his own fingers. Oikawa feels the twitch in his fingers again, this time tempted to reach out to smooth his fingers over the furrow of Kageyama’s brow.

“You call him Shoyo and he talks about you all the time. You guys seem...close,” Kageyama says, bringing his eyes up to meet Oikawa’s.

Oikawa raises an eyebrow at him in disbelief. Is Kageyama jealous? But of whom? Oikawa never even considered the thought that Kageyama might possibly like Hinata. It would make sense. Oikawa feels a bit like a rug has been pulled out from under him, but keeps himself from overthinking. He needs to figure this out before he gets in any deeper.

“Hmm, well. You can say we’re friends. I guess the first name thing kind of stuck from becoming friends in a Western country,” Oikawa muses, nonchalantly.

“Oh, yeah. I guess that makes sense,” Kageyama says, before looking around at their surroundings. “Wait, do you live near me, Oikawa-san?”

“Kind of. We walked past my road earlier, but I wanted to walk you home. Don’t worry about Shoyo, Tobio-chan. You’re still my favorite kohai!” Oikawa teases, fishing for a reaction, and reaching out to pinch Kageyama’s right cheek.

Kageyama slaps his hand away. His face darkens. “That’s not what I was worried about. And you don’t have to walk me home!” he protests.

“Do you mean you want to be Shoyo’s favorite instead?” Oikawa asks, trying to keep his tone light.

He waits with bated breath.

Kageyama grimaces, “No way. I got stuck with him in high school. He can be someone else’s problem now.”

Chuckling in relief, Oikawa spins around and keeps walking in the direction they were heading earlier. Maybe he does have a chance after all. Kageyama rushes to stay in step with him. Slowing down his pace, Oikawa lets Kageyama lead the way again. “Anyway. We have volleyball plans next Friday, and Takeru would be really upset if you don’t show up which means I’m going to have to come pick you up. Can’t do that if I don’t know where you live!”

“You’re the one who started walking this way first though, Oikawa-san,” Kageyama points out, fidgeting with the straps on his sports store bag.

“Tobio-chan, you’re as clueless as always! You were spacing out earlier, but you started walking first. I’ve been walking a step behind you this whole time. I guess we’re lucky your muscle memory knows where you’re going,” Oikawa scolds, shaking his head at Kageyama’s lack of awareness.

“It...it didn’t seem like you were ever behind me,” Kageyama says with a frown before speeding up his pace and taking a right turn down the next street.

Oikawa pauses for just a second, staring at Kageyama’s back, before speeding up to follow after him. It didn’t sound like Kageyama was talking about just walking. Maybe Oikawa really shouldn’t doubt Iwaizumi after all.

When they say their goodbyes at Kageyama’s gate, Oikawa watches fondly as the other man waves awkwardly and rushes inside, face red. Standing on the precipice, he doesn’t know what lies below as he lets his feet dangle over the edge, but Oikawa thinks he’s not afraid to jump anymore.

⛩️

“Hi, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa chirps when Iwaizumi picks up his call, crawling onto his futon and sprawling out.

He had just gotten home from walking back from Kageyama’s place and immediately dialed Iwaizumi. 

“Hey Trashykawa. What’s up?” Iwaizumi responds.

Oikawa pouts at the stupid nickname again. “I’ve been feeling super generous today, and I was going to treat you to dinner, but I changed my mind.”

Even though he can’t see Iwaizumi, Oikawa feels a chill down his spine, no doubt because Iwaizumi is making one of his scary expressions.

“Oikawa, you do realize that you still owe me, right?” Iwaizumi says, tone deathly calm.

“You’re right, you’re right! I’ll get you drinks too!” Oikawa says with a nervous laugh. “Pick where you want to eat. Something healthy though, okay?”

“You think you can make requests?” Iwaizumi asks, tone threatening. WIthout letting Oikawa respond, Iwaizumi continues, “I’ll come by at 7.”

He hangs up, and Oikawa shakes his head and laughs. As an athletic trainer, Iwaizumi usually picks somewhere with healthy options regardless. 

Staring up at his ceiling, Oikawa is buzzing in his skin, full of adrenaline. He can’t wait to tell Iwaizumi about his chance encounter with Kageyama.

⛩️

Iwaizumi knows that Oikawa is doing a really bad job at keeping something to himself the whole car ride to the restaurant. Glancing at Oikawa’s fidgeting and leg bouncing in the passenger seat as he tells some story about one of his Argentianian friends or teammate, Iwaizumi knows it’s not something bad. He decides to ignore Oikawa’s obvious attempt to get Iwaizumi to ask about whatever it is. Oikawa will lose patience and blurt out whatever he has to say eventually.

After they settle in and place their orders, Iwaizumi asks, “What have you been up to the past couple days, Lazykawa?”

“Oh, you know how Takeru is. Super excited about volleyball and going on about it non-stop!” Oikawa responds, then sips at his water, looking around at the restaurant’s decor.

“So you took him to get new shoes? Your sister mentioned that he’s been asking for some for weeks,” Iwaizumi says, eyes narrowing at Oikawa’s weird behavior.

“I’m so proud of him, Iwa-chan! He picked out a pretty good pair of shoes and--,” Oikawa stops for a dramatic pause.

Finally, Iwaizumi thinks.

“He convinced the best setter in Japan to help him practice next Friday!” Oikawa grins.

“What? Are you talking about Miya Atsumu?”

“What!?” Oikawa gasps loudly. “I can’t believe you think Miya is the best setter in Japan!”

“I don’t, but Takeru practices with you all the time, so you can’t possibly be talking about yourself!” Iwaizumi shoots back.

“Oh my God. What do you take me for? I don’t even play in Japan anymore, Iwa-chan! I’m talking about Tobio-chan! How could you possibly overlook our precious kohai for Atsumu Miya?” Oikawa exclaims as quietly as he can, glancing around at the other patrons in the restaurant.

“Kageyama,” Iwaizumi says slowly.

Oikawa crosses his arms, scowling. “Yes, Kageyama!”

“Okay,” Iwaizumi says. “I agree that Kageyama is probably Japan’s best setter right now, but you’re calling him the best setter? Thought you still hated the genius volleyball skills thing. Even if you do have a crush on him.”

“I’m a different person now! I can say that he’s the best setter in Japan!” Oikawa protests.

“Really? Did you get abducted by aliens?” Iwaizumi reaches across the table and pokes Oikawa in the middle of his forehead.

Oikawa swats his hand away. “I wish! But no. Iwa-chan, I mean it. I know our last conversation was more about how attractive he is now, but I’ve been watching his matches. He’s actually really good.”

Iwaizumi settles back in his chair and scrutinizes Oikawa, whose expression is serious for once.

“Okay. And Takeru convinced him to help him practice?” Iwaizumi inquires.

“Yep! Next Friday. You should come, Iwa-chan! Mini reunion!” Oikawa smiles, back to his usual chirpy self. Iwaizumi watches him fiddling with his chopsticks.

“I might accept your invite,” Iwaizumi says, before catching the attention of one of the servers to order drinks. “I think I’m going to accept a job offer from the Adlers.”

“Iwa-chan, that’s amazing! So you’ll be working with Tobio-chan?” Oikawa excitedly asks.

“Oh, I see how it is,” Iwaizumi jokes. ”You get a crush and suddenly that’s all we talk about.”

“Sorry,” Oikawa says sheepishly, looking down at his chopsticks, ripping up the paper sleeve on them.

“Nah, that’s okay. You’ve been focused on volleyball for so long, I think this is good for you."

Oikawa looks up and opens his mouth, but their food and beer arrives then, and interrupts whatever he was about to say.

As they tuck into their food, they’re both quiet for a while. Iwaizumi lets the silence settle comfortably over them as he lets Oikawa think. Iwaizumi hasn’t had to deal with Oikawa being this introspective in a while. Oikawa is smart, and he’s had his whole life planned out since a young age. Iwaizumi thinks this Kageyama thing will be a good branch off from his planned path, if it all goes well.

As he finishes up his sushi, Oikawa picks up his beer and gulps down a third of it. He sets his glass down.

“This is weird for me, you know?” Oikawa finally says. “I’ve always dated casually, because volleyball is more important to me than any of that. But Tobio is both to me.”

Iwaizumi leans back in his chair and listens as Oikawa continues.

“It’s just that, other than Blanco, no one has ever inspired me to work harder than Tobio. So I guess I'm kind of grateful he’s been there throughout most of my career. And spending time with him today, I know I actually like being around him. I want him to like being around me too.”

“If he actually spent time with you today, I’m sure he did. Kageyama never does things to please other people. King of the Court, remember?”

Oikawa grimaces. “I used to always call him a dictator. He’s not really like that anymore when he’s playing though. He’s changed so much. Do you think he’s noticed that I’ve changed too?”

Iwaizumi smiles. “Personally, I think you’re still the same crappy guy. Maybe just a little more grown up now.”

“Hey!” Oikawa yells. Iwaizumi continues.

“He’s always known you’re a good player. You have a chance to show him that the rest of you isn’t too bad either. Honestly, Oikawa, it was never bad in the first place. Maybe just a little lost. You’re only human.”

He clinks his glass against Oikawa’s on the table. “Come on, let’s keep drinking. You’re paying after all.”

**December 24, 2018**

Iwaizumi wakes up to the sound of his phone going off non-stop. He uses his forearm to block out the sunlight streaming through his window for just a few more seconds while he’s still letting his mind wake up. With a sigh, he rolls over to grab his phone and scroll through the notifications.

News travels fast, Iwaizumi thinks, smiling at the congratulatory texts from members of the Schweiden Adlers organization. There’s even one from Ushiwaka.

Scrolling down further, Iwaizumi grins.

> **Utsui-san**
> 
> Congrats on the new job. Knew you’d get it. Take care of him for me, okay?

Huffing out a laugh, Iwaizumi responds with a thanks and an affirmative. Wait till he tells Oikawa that he’d agree to take care of Ushijima Wakatoshi of all people. Another notification draws his attention, and he sees that it’s from Kageyama.

> **Kageyama**
> 
> Congratulations, Iwaizumi-san! I look forward to working together.

Iwaizumi almost responds with a quick thanks until he sees that Kageyama is still typing something.

> **Kageyama**
> 
> Do you have time for lunch on Wednesday? You’re in Miyagi for break, right?

Iwaizumi raises an eyebrow at that. Even though they had lunch once before, Iwaizumi was the one to initiate that time because he was curious to see how his old kohai was doing. It’s strange for Kageyama to be the one to invite him. Especially when they’re not in Tokyo.

Iwaizumi thinks about his recent conversations with his best friend. 

Oikawa adapts well, so Iwaizumi wasn’t that worried about him moving to Argentina. Even so, the artificiality of Oikawa’s cheer was more pronounced the first year. They talked often, but as the months passed, Iwaizumi started worrying a little bit more. Oikawa only ever talked about volleyball and never about friends. Iwaizumi knows they exist now, but he suspects most of them are the shallow, partying kind. The only genuine friendships seem to be Oikawa’s teammates, and even that took a while because of the language barrier. Iwaizumi thinks it’s about time Oikawa finds genuine happiness.

Staring at the message on his phone’s screen, Iwaizumi makes a decision. He shouldn’t meddle. But a good friend should vet the other party, right?

> **Me**
> 
> Thanks, Kageyama! You like curry, right? I know a place we can go.

**December 26, 2018**

When Iwaizumi walks up to the restaurant, Kageyama is standing outside, bundled up in a sporty blue winter coat and a dark red scarf. He has his cell phone in his gloved hands, and he’s frowning down at it, so he doesn’t notice Iwaizumi approaching. Iwaizumi snorts. Kageyama somehow does always find the sportiest attire, no matter the occasion or weather.

“Hey, Kageyama,” Iwaizumi says, when he’s standing directly next to the other man and Kageyama still hasn’t looked up from his phone.

Kageyama jumps, phone flying out of his hand and dropping to the ground with a clatter. “Iwaizumi-san!”

Iwaizumi bends down to pick up the phone, checking to make sure nothing broke. Brushing it off with his sleeve, he hands it over to Kageyama, “You’re in luck. No cracks,” Iwaizumi says with a grin.

“Thanks,” Kageyama responds, taking it from Iwaizumi’s hand and dropping it into his coat pocket. “And, um. Thanks for coming to lunch with me.”

“No problem. Don’t want Oikawa keeping you all to himself,” Iwaizumi throws out nonchalantly, opening the door of the restaurant and walking in before Kageyama could react.

He hears Kageyama coming in behind him and lets the hostess know that they need a table for two.

Once they’re seated, Iwaizumi takes his time perusing the menu, subtly taking peeks at Kageyama over the top of it. It’s obvious that Kageyama is stalling. On a small menu where pork curry is available and toppings include soft boiled egg, there’s no way he would spend that long looking at the menu.

Iwaizumi sets his menu down, and Kageyama mirrors him. They stare at each other. Iwaizumi keeps his face free of emotion, but internally, he’s amused that Kageyama is as socially inept as always. It’s kind of cute. Their last lunch involved a lot of questions on Iwaizumi’s part to keep the conversation going, but Kageyama must have a reason for inviting Iwaizumi out. An Oikawa-shaped reason, Iwaizumi suspects.

Kageyama opens his mouth, but closes it fairly quickly. 

The server comes by to take their orders, and Iwaizumi hands her their menus with a quick thanks. When she’s gone, Iwaizumi takes pity on Kageyama and says, “I hear we’ll be spending time together on Friday.”

“Friday? You’re coming to help Takeru-kun?” Kageyama inquires.

Iwaizumi nods. “Mmhm. I’m surprised you’re voluntarily spending time with Oikawa again. Takeru is pretty persuasive though.”

“Y-yeah,” Kageyama stutters. He takes in a deep breath, as if preparing himself for the worst, and asks, “Is Oikawa-san okay?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Iwaizumi asks, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

“He’s not dying or anything bad like that, right?” Kageyama says.

“Wait, what? Where would you get a crazy idea like that?” Iwaizumi exclaims.

Kageyama’s shoulder tenses. “Well, when I saw him on Friday, he was _nice_ to me. He even bought me a birthday present and lunch. When I told my friends about it, Hinata told me that it’s pretty weird for him to come home in the winter and Tsukishima said that Oikawa-san must be sick or dying.”

Iwaizumi looks at Kageyama incredulously before he bursts out laughing. “Honestly, my life would be so much easier if that were the case.”

“Oikawa-san is okay then?” Kageyama asks, hands gripping at the edge of the table and leaning forward in anticipation of the answer.

“Yes, yes. Other than being an idiot as usual, he’s completely fine. Honestly, I feel like I need to apologize on his behalf if you think him being nice means that he’s _dying._ ”

The relief that washes over Kageyama is visible as he relaxes back into his chair. “It’s okay, Iwaizumi-san. It was weird but, it was— He was really nice.”

There’s a faint blush on Kageyama’s cheeks. At least that hasn’t changed much since middle school, Iwaizumi thinks. Oikawa really was oblivious to not have noticed it back then.

Thinking of the situation at hand, he asks, “Did you guys talk at all on Friday?”

“Yeah, about Takeru’s volleyball lessons and stuff like that.”

“But not about what he’s been up to in Argentina?” Iwaizumi presses.

Kageyama shakes his head. “I asked, but we got in trouble with the sports store owner and it didn’t come up again.”

“You guys got in trouble? Why am I not surprised by that.”

“Takeru was just excited to meet me, that’s all! We didn’t fight or anything,” Kageyama mumbles in protest.

Iwaizumi sighs. “Well, Takeru is a big fan. And he’s a much better kid than Oikawa, so I guess it was just bad luck. Oikawa got me in trouble at that sports store all the time.”

Iwaizumi spots the server heading their way with their food and picks up his chopsticks in anticipation, “Man, I’m starving. I miss this place when I’m in Tokyo.”

After the server puts down the food and leaves, Kageyama asks, “Did you used to go here often?”

Iwaizumi nods, starting in on his chirashi. “Oikawa and I have been eating here since we were little with our families. When we started high school, we’d come here at least once a week, just the two of us."

“Why did you invite me here? Won’t Oikawa-san get mad if he finds out?” Kageyama panics and Iwaizumi rolls his eyes.

“Calm down. If he gets mad at anyone, it’ll be me. He used to always gloat that they make the best pork curry here and you’d never know about it.”

“You’re his friend though! I’m just a kohai he doesn’t even like!”

There’s a moment of stunned silence between the both of them before Iwaizumi starts laughing again.

“Oh, man. I haven’t laughed this much in a while. Thanks, Kageyama. Stop worrying and start eating before your food gets cold,” Iwaizumi chuckles, noting the dazed expression and redness of Kageyama’s face.

When the check comes, Kageyama grabs it while mumbling something about a congratulatory meal before running off to the register. Iwaizumi didn’t even get a chance to try to fight for it. Even older, the other man is kind of adorable. Similar to a puppy. Shaking his head, he pulls out his phone to send out a quick message.

Iwaizumi makes his way over to the register just as Kageyama is finished paying. “Hey, you mind waiting for a minute? I’m going to head to the restroom and then we should check out the new bakery a few doors down.”

“Sure,” Kageyama responds. “I’ll wait out front.”

Kageyama heads through the doors and Iwaizumi glances at his watch before heading towards the back where the restrooms are.

When Iwaizumi is done, he leisurely washes his hands and meanders his way back to the front just in time to see a familiar figure rolling up on a bike.

Oikawa hasn’t spotted him through the glass yet, but he has honed in on Kageyama who is standing a few feet to the side of the door.

Opening the door, Iwaizumi hear’s Oikawa whining dramatically, “Tobio-chan, how could you possibly know about this place?”

Kageyama’s shoulders tense up in alarm and he stutters out, “O-oikawa-san!”

Deciding to save Kageyama before things escalate, Iwaizumi steps out and notifies them of his presence with a short, “Hey.”

Oikawa gasps loudly. “Iwa-chan, how could you? I wanted to take Tobio-chan here!”

Kageyama’s shoulders drop, and he’s now blinking at Oikawa in shock.

“You could still go here with him, you know? There’s no entry limit to the place,” Iwaizumi responds with a bored tone.

“But I found the best pork curry, and I wanted to show Tobio-chan! You cheated, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa squawks indignantly before adding, “Why did you two have lunch without me anyway? That’s completely unfair!”

“Oikawa-san, I—,” Kageyama starts before Iwaizumi interrupts him.

“You can’t hog _our_ kohai to yourself, Crappykawa. Plus he and I are colleagues now.”

Oikawa’s jaw drops. “You didn’t tell me you accepted the job!”

“I told you I was going to though. Now come on, stop whining and come to the new bakery with us,” Iwaizumi starts before leaning in to whisper the rest in Oikawa’s ear. “I’ll buy you milk bread for stealing your date idea.”

Oikawa shoves Iwaizumi hard enough to send him stumbling a couple feet as soon as those words leave his mouth, and turns to Kageyama with a bright, easy smile. “Tobio-chan, let’s go get dessert!”

Kageyama seems more overwhelmed than anything, but he nods and is soon being dragged by the wrist in the direction of the bakery. They’re moving rather slowly because Oikawa is attempting to roll his bike along with his other hand, so Iwaizumi takes pity on him and grabs it from him.

Oikawa beams at him and proceeds to speed up his pace, pulling Kageyama away and through the entrance of the bakery. Iwaizumi rolls his eyes, moving the bike over to lean it against the side of the building before heading inside himself.

Iwaizumi rubs at his temple as soon as he sees the scene that greets him when he enters. Oikawa is still holding onto Kageyama’s wrist, but there’s a cute girl at the counter, so of course he just had to start flirting with her. Kageyama is just standing there stiffly, and he’s looking at the far wall where the bread selection is, clearly avoiding the situation as best he can.

Iwaizumi makes his way over to one of the empty tables and yells out, “Oi, Kageyama!” which prompts the other man to glance over at him.

Iwaizumi waves him over, and he pulls his way out of Oikawa’s grip hastily in order to join Iwaizumi at the table. Iwaizumi spots the anxious expression on Oikawa’s face and is glad to know he at least understands that he messed up.

“I told Oikawa I’d pay, so I can grab everything if you save this table for us. You probably want a glass of milk, right? What about one of the breads or cakes?” Iwaizumi says gently, glancing over at Oikawa who has since stopped talking to the cafe employee and is now peering into the cake display fridge.

“Milk is fine, thanks,” Kageyama replies quietly. Iwaizumi groans internally. He had overestimated his friend’s tact and self-awareness, and underestimated the effect his friend had on their kohai.

Walking over to Oikawa, Iwaizumi throws an arm around his shoulder and punches him in the ribs, shielding the action from Kageyama’s view with his body. “What is wrong with you?” he harshly whispers.

Oikawa audibly lets out an oof, but doesn’t retaliate. “It’s a habit! I can’t just stop being my charming self all of a sudden!”

“Ugh, you’re an idiot. I’ll get your milk bread and Kageyama’s milk, so you can go sit down with him.”

“Wait, he didn’t ask for anything else? He eats like it’s his last meal every meal! Let’s get him the chocolate cake,” Oikawa says, gesturing at one of the slices in the fridge. “I think he likes chocolate cake.”

“You’re probably right,” Iwaizumi says, nodding before pushing Oikawa until he’s moving towards their table.

He grabs a tray and picks up a few items before going to the register to ask for the cake and milk. He also orders a black coffee for Oikawa and hovers near the counter after he pays to wait for all the items.

Glancing over at his companions, Oikawa has his elbows on the table with his chin resting in his hands, a smile on his face. Kageyama is bristling and looking grumpy, so no doubt Oikawa is teasing him about something or other.

When the barista slides a tray onto the counter with the coffee, milk, and cake on it, Iwaizumi reaches into his bag to pull out the milk bread and place it on the tray. He picks the tray up and heads over to his friends.

When he gets there, neither of the two are talking anymore and they both look up at him. He sets the tray down and steps back. “I got a text from my mom. I need to go home to help her with something. Stealing your bike, Oikawa, I’ll return it when I see you both on Friday!”

Iwaizumi runs off. So much for not meddling, but sometimes two idiots need a little push.

⛩️

“Wow, that was weird,” Oikawa says, watching his friend run off with his bike. “He lives a ten minute walk from here. No way he needed my bike.”

He turns back to Kageyama who is in the midst of chugging down all his milk.

“Whoa! What are you doing?” Oikawa asks in shock, reaching a hand out to grab Kageyama’s wrist.

Kageyama stops, with half of the milk in his glass left. Taking in a gasp of breath, he says, “I didn’t think you’d want to stay now that Iwaizumi-san is gone…”

“Iwa-chan is awful company. He’s so mean to me! You won’t be mean to me, right?” Oikawa says, giving Kageyama his best doe eyes.

“Are you going to be mean to me?” Kageyama shoots back.

Oikawa puts a finger to his chin, as if in thought, and responds, “I make no promises.”

“Then no promises from me either,” Kageyama replies, arms crossed.

“Ugh, that’s not cute at all, Tobio-chan!” Oikawa pouts. “And I went through the trouble of picking out a chocolate cake for you.”

“That’s for me?” Kageyama asks, eyes wide.

“We both know how much food you usually eat. No way you’d say no to more,” Oikawa says, picking up the cake and putting it directly in front of Kageyama.

“Here,” he says, holding out a fork for him.

When Kageyama takes the fork from him, their fingers brush for just seconds, but Oikawa feels his heart stutter from the contact.

Oikawa stares at Kageyama’s hand as he moves to eat his cake. His eyes trace along Kageyama’s toned arm up to his shoulder then to his mouth as he brings his fork up. When he wraps his lips around the piece of cake and tines of the fork, all Oikawa can think of is how much he’d like to chase the cake with his own mouth.

“Thanks. This is really good,” Kageyama says, and Oikawa realizes that he still has his hand up from when he handed Kageyama the fork. He jerks it back and picks up his milk bread.

“Probably not as good as this,” Oikawa says, waving his bread around. “But I don’t expect you to understand the marvels of milk bread.”

“I’d like it better if milk bread actually tasted like milk,” Kageyama responds, picking up his glass and sipping at the white liquid.

“Of course you have no taste,” Oikawa says, scrunching his nose.

He opens the package, tears off a piece of bread and pops it into his mouth. It’s not as good as the one from his favorite bakery, but it’s still amazing.

“It isn’t easy to find Japanese bakeries in Argentina or most of South America. Even when I do find them, it’s not quite the same,” Oikawa says as he continues to tear and eat his bread. “I always bring some back with me when I come home to visit or I ask Iwa-chan or my sister to bring some with them when they visit. Milk bread only freezes well for about a month though, so I go most of the year without it.”

“Can’t you just bake your own?” Kageyama asks.

Oikawa raises an eyebrow at him. “Do I look like I know how to bake?”

“How the hell does someone look like they know how to bake?” Kageyama throws back with a glare.

“Of course the correct answer is that they don’t look like me, Tobio-chan.”

Kageyama glares even harder, and this time, Oikawa actually reaches out to smooth the furrow between his brows. Kageyama jerks back and catches his wrist in his hand, peering at Oikawa with wide eyes.

Oikawa can still feel the smoothness and warmth of Kageyama’s skin on his fingertips and feels a pang from how quickly Kageyama had backed away.

Quickly, Oikawa pulls his hand back and scoffs. “You’ll get wrinkles if you’re always frowning, you know?”

“Right,” Kageyama says, picking up his fork and looking down at his cake, not making eye contact with Oikawa. “Argentina. You were talking about Argentina.”

“Right,” Oikawa echoes. He wonders briefly if he shouldn’t have done that, but the other man is still sitting across from him and that’s enough for now. He leans back in his chair, picks up his coffee cup, and takes a second to savor the warmth seeping into his hands before he takes a sip and begins to speak again, “I’m sorry I left without saying anything.”

“What?” Kageyama asks, looking up at Oikawa.

Oikawa holds his gaze.

“I mean, if I went back to that time, I probably still wouldn’t say anything. But sorry I disappeared, I guess. I wasn’t trying to leave everything behind. I just wanted to keep moving forward.”

Oikawa keeps going before Kageyama can respond. “Do you know who Jose Blanco is?”

“The Tachibana Red Falcon’s old coach?” 

Oikawa nods.

“That’s the one. When I was in elementary school there was a tournament in Sendai. Iwa-chan and I went to see a match between Japan and Argentina. There was a fledgling ace playing for Argentina who made waves the beginning half of the tournament, but was a little off during the match against Japan. I thought for sure they would switch him out, but they changed the setter instead. It was Jose Blanco.”

Oikawa takes a breath, and another sip of coffee. 

“Watching how Blanco inconspicuously changed the tide of the match by helping the ace get his bearings again, then just leaving the court quietly...I felt like he was the true star of the match. I decided then that I wanted to be a setter, just like him.”

Pausing, he sips his coffee again and takes note of Kageyama’s expression, which was now intently focused on him and rapt with attention and curiosity.

“When I was in high school, when he was still coaching the Falcons, Coach Irihata helped me connect with him. Every time I was unsure about playing volleyball, I went to talk to him. He knew I wasn’t _actually_ unsure, but he always talked to me anyway.”

Oikawa sighs. He once told this story to Hinata, in a restaurant thousands of miles away. Telling Hinata was easy, but the man across from him _is_ a part of his story. Even if he probably won’t completely realize that from what Oikawa says.

“It’s weird for me to be telling you this, you know? I never thought there’d come a day where I would want to actually communicate with you.”

“Trust me, it’s weird for me too,” Kageyama says immediately in response.

Oikawa scowls. “You always wanted me to talk to you in middle school! _And_ the few times you saw me in high school!”

“And you would call me stupid and not talk to me. So it’s weird that you’re talking to me now.”

Kageyama crosses his arms, not backing down.

Not wanting to admit that Kageyama is, in fact, correct, Oikawa continues. “Okay, well. Listen closely now. I followed Blanco to Argentina to train under him. In all these past years, Blanco helped me realize that if I hold onto my resentments, I’ll always live in their shadows. So I let them go. And I grew up. And I don’t want to be like I was years ago anymore.”

Oikawa leans back in his chair, mirroring Kageyama’s crossed arms. “But heed my words, Tobio-chan. Next time we meet on the court, I’ll be the one victorious. I’ll show you how hard I’ve worked the past few years.”

Oikawa thinks he almost stops breathing when he sees a ghost of a smile on Kageyama’s face that disappears almost as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by a familiar determination that Oikawa has seen many times on the opposite side of the court.

“It’s been five years. Are you an Argentinian citizen now?” Kageyama asks quietly, and Oikawa only nods in response.

“Then the 2020 Olympics. You better be on the opposite side of the net. And when the time comes, _I’ll_ be the one to beat _you_.”

This time, it’s Oikawa’s turn to smile, which eventually turns into a bright, genuine grin. And though Kageyama partially hides his face by leaning an elbow on the table and covering it with his hand, the crinkle around his eyes gives him away. 

Oikawa is relieved. Some things don’t change, and he’s glad that his rivalry with Kageyama can still be a constant in spite of the years of maturity and the separation. But then again, while the rivalry is still there, it’s different and better now.

Oikawa leans over and swipes a dollop of chocolate frosting from Kageyama’s cake which prompts an indignant shout from the other man.

“You’re taking so long eating that, Tobio-chan! I don’t have all day!”

“You don’t have to stay,” Kageyama grumbles, but he diligently finishes the cake in a few more big bites.

“Great! It’s your turn to walk _me_ home now.”

Oikawa stands and grabs Kageyama’s wrist, dragging him up until he’s standing. Face-to-face, Oikawa can really see how much Kageyama has grown since high school. The other man is a little taller than him. And where Oikawa had always had a muscular, athletic build even in middle school, Kageyama hadn’t. He’s certainly filled out over the years. He looks so incredibly gorgeous up close like this.

They hold eye contact for a few seconds longer than necessary, and Oikawa can feel the heat rushing to his cheeks. He let’s go, spins around, and quickly walks outside into the cool air, willing the redness of his cheeks to go away. Without checking to see if Kageyama is behind him, he starts heading towards his home.

“Oikawa-san!” Kageyama yells from behind him, and Oikawa feels a hand grasping onto his wrist which jolts him into turning his body just enough so that he’s looking back at Kageyama.

“Oikawa-san,” Kageyama speaks again, in a soft, but sure voice. He looks straight at Oikawa, eyes earnest. He lets go of Oikawa’s wrist but gently slips his hand into Oikawa’s own. “I don’t know where you live, so you’ll have to lead me.”

Oikawa stares at Kageyama in stunned disbelief, but the man does not waver. Rather, he tightens his grip on Oikawa’s hand. In Oikawa’s haste to leave, neither of them had put their gloves on and Oikawa is glad for it. At their point of contact, Oikawa feels the warmth of their touch, but also the barest of tremors which is also evident in Kageyama’s shoulders once he knew it was there. Oikawa thinks that both of their hearts must be racing each other.

Less than a minute must have passed, but it must have felt like forever and too long in Kageyama’s mind, because Oikawa feels him tensing up before he starts to let go of Oikawa’s hand. Quickly, Oikawa tightens his grip and keeps Kageyama from pulling away.

He tugs gently and turns back around before saying softly but loud enough for Kageyama to hear, “Come on, I’m over this way.”

They don’t let go until they get to Oikawa’s front gates.

**December 27, 2018**

When Oikawa wakes up the next morning, he stays in bed and stares at his hand, flexing his fingers as if the action can somehow bring back the sensation of having Kageyama’s hand in his. He resists the urge to squeal into his pillow like a girl in a shojo manga.

A vibration from his phone brings him back down to earth, and he sees a text from an unknown number.

> **Unknown**
> 
> Hi. It’s Kageyama
> 
> Tobio
> 
> I got your number from Iwaizumi-san. Hinata wants to know if he can come tomorrow

He says you owe him ramen

Oikawa laughs at Kageyama’s cute little introduction. As if Oikawa wouldn’t have known who he was just from his family name. He saves his number as a contact.

> **Me**
> 
> The more the merrier. We’re meeting at 8am. I’ll send Shoyo the address. I’ll pick you up at 7:15 and then we’ll get Takeru
> 
> **Tobio-chan <3**
> 
> He’s sleeping over so no need to send him the address
> 
> **Me**
> 
> Sleepover? Should I be jealous???

Oikawa can just imagine Kageyama’s cute, blushing cheeks.

> **Tobio-chan <3**
> 
> No

Oikawa stares at his screen, expecting more, but the typing ellipses bubble doesn’t pop up from Kageyama. Oikawa pouts.

> **Me**
> 
> Tobio-chan, why can’t you be a little more cute?!?!

Oikawa gleefully stares at this screen as Kageyama immediately starts responding.

> **Tobio-chan <3**
> 
> No
> 
> **Me**
> 
> Tobio-chaaannnn 

Oikawa waits for a minute, and when Kageyama doesn’t type back, he scowls and sets his phone down. 

He can’t believe Kageyama could be so unresponsive. They held hands yesterday, so there must be a mutual attraction, right? Don’t people who like each other enjoy texting?

Oikawa pulls his pillow over his face and groans into it. People and relationships were so much easier in high school. The female population at Aoba Johsai confessed to him constantly, so he never needed to put in the effort. Honestly, he never really wanted to either. It was all very shallow. And right now, Oikawa wants anything but shallow.

Oikawa sighs and pushes himself off his bed to get ready for the day. His mom wants to do a family dinner tonight, so he’s helping her prepare. No reason to dwell on the Kageyama situation for now. After all, things may be going well, but they have a long way to go. He has a few more days and hopefully a few more chances to get there eventually.

**December 28, 2018**

When Oikawa gets to Kageyama’s house, even though he’s a few minutes earlier than the planned time, both Kageyama and Hinata are already outside waiting at the gate.

“Good morning, Tobio-chan, Shoyo!” Oikawa chirps with a bright smile. 

“Oika-senpai! Good morning!” Comes the response, and Oikawa finds his arms full of the bright-orange haired man.

Hinata starts talking about all the things he wants to teach Takeru and Oikawa smiles, looking over at Kageyama who is shuffling his feet, hands shoved in his pockets, and looking the other way, towards the direction of the rising sun. Oikawa waits for a beat, but Kageyama doesn’t look back at him.

“Come on, Takeru is back this way,” Oikawa says, gesturing at the way he came from.

Hinata beams in excitement and starts hopping in that direction, while Oikawa takes a second to glance at Kageyama again, who is now facing him. He looks tired, even though he’s usually an early riser.

“You okay?” Oikawa can’t help but ask.

“I’m fine,” Kageyama says evenly, but he doesn’t move.

“Oi, slowpokes! We can’t play volleyball if you just stand in one place all day!” Hinata exclaims, bouncing back towards them.

“I’m sure you would find a way,” Kageyama retorts grumpily, and Hinata just laughs.

Pulling out his phone to check the time, Oikawa says, “We probably should hurry or we’ll be late. Best not to keep Iwa-chan waiting!”

Kageyama nods and starts walking, so Oikawa follows to keep in pace. Hinata jumps into the space between then, hooking his arms with theirs.

“So, Oika-senpai. When are you headed back to Argentina?” Hinata asks, peering up towards Oikawa.

“Just a few days after the new year. On the 4th. We have mandatory practice on the 6th.”

Oikawa looks over at Kageyama who is frowning, but silent. Oikawa wonders if trying to start this with the physical distance looming in their future was a bad idea. Maybe that’s what Kageyama is thinking of too. But Oikawa couldn’t not try, not when the opportunity was in front of him.

“Oh right, you already told me that. Ahhh, I sure miss the weather in South America! So warm!” Hinata moans, breaking Oikawa out of his thoughts. “It’s way too cold here!”

“You can always go back to visit. You made a lot of friends in Brazil, didn’t you? And feel free to visit me in Argentina. I’ve got a futon with your name on it,” Oikawa says, still looking at Kageyama, who hasn’t looked his way all this time.

“Really? I’ll come for sure. And then I can pay you back for the meal you treated me to in Brazil!”

Hinata asks Oikawa what types of food are in Argentina and if the cuisine is pretty similar to Brazil’s, which keeps them occupied until they get to Oikawa’s sister’s house.

Oikawa spots Takeru’s face disappearing from the upstairs window and chuckles. “Looks like we don’t need to ring the doorbell. Takeru should be out any second.”

Takeru comes running out the front door, barely getting his shoes on and stops in front of Kageyama.

“Kageyama-san! Thank you so much for coming! And you brought Hinata Shoyo too! Can you guys show me your freaky quick attack?”

Takeru is practically vibrating in his skin and somehow looking up at both Kageyama and Hinata even though he’s about even in height with Hinata.

“I don’t think I ever mentioned to either of you... Takeru actually goes to Karasuno and plays in the wing spiker position,” Oikawa says with a smirk.

Oikawa enjoys that it gets a reaction from Kageyama, even if it’s just a little one. The man has been so pensive this morning, it scares Oikawa a little. Kageyama, perhaps now comfortable with Takeru, easily tells him that he thinks that’s pretty cool. Hinata on the other hand has sparkles in his eyes.

“Wow! You chose Karasuno over Seijoh and Shiratorizawa and Da--”

“Hinata, dumbass, we don’t need you to list every single school in the prefecture.”

Hinata just rolls his eyes at Kageyama and throws an arm around Takeru’s shoulders. “You can tell me all about how your team is doing while we walk to the court, Takeru-kun!”

They start off first and Oikawa looks over at Kageyama again before following, keeping his pace slow so that they’re a few feet away from the other two.

“I’d like it if we can keep in touch when I’m back in Argentina, Tobio-chan. That means you need to learn how to text. Your responses were dismal yesterday!” Oikawa teases, lightly bumping his shoulder against the other man’s.

“I know how to text,” Kageyama mutters, before speeding up to catch up with Hinata and Takeru.

Oikawa stares after him anxiously, completely unsure why Kageyama is suddenly being so cold. Surely he would remember if he did something wrong, right?

⛩️

Iwaizumi taps his watch pointedly at Oikawa when their group finally makes it to the local volleyball court.

“Sorry, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa says, rubbing the back of his neck. “I think we’ll have a good practice though. We’ve got a lively bunch this morning.”

Iwaizumi shakes his head at him and says, “Kindaichi said he’ll try to stop by so we might have enough for a 3-on-3 later. He had errands to run this morning but said he was able to get most of the day off.”

“We can play a match? Iwaizumi-san, you’re the best!” Takeru yells, giving him a tight squeeze.

“Alright, alright. Let’s break up into groups. You wanted to work on your blocks, right Takeru?” Iwaizumi asks and receives a nod in response.

“Oika-senpai and I can help him with that!” Hinata volunteers, raising a hand up. “I need to talk to him about something anyway.”

“I was actually going to suggest the same grouping. Kageyama, since we’ll be working together once we’re back in Tokyo, I wanted to get more familiar with your routine and playing style. We’ll do this for an hour and switch gears after.”

Oikawa stares after them as Kageyama and Iwaizumi head to the other side of the gym to talk before turning back to Hinata and Takeru. “Let’s do some stretching and get started.”

As Takeru goes through his stretches, Hinata says something quietly to him before pulling Oikawa out of earshot to start their own routines. 

“Oika-senpai. Kageyama is my best friend, so I’m completely serious when I say I won’t forgive you if you hurt him. I know enough people that someone will surely help me hide your body,” Hinata says, eyes completely serious. They’re almost scary.

Startled, Oikawa says, “I was not expecting this.”

Hinata smiles at him, but his eyes haven’t changed. “You probably don’t know this, but the whole time I’ve known Kageyama, he’s only been really noticeably freaked out once. It was right before our match against you. The Spring High prelims.”

Oikawa stays silent and listens, trying to understand where Hinata is going with this. Back then, Kageyama was only a few years removed from Oikawa’s worst actions. He had just won against them at the Interhigh prelims. Oikawa had been a threat to their chances of going to nationals as first years, so he’s not surprised that Kageyama was freaked out. 

“I think he’s scared of a lot of other things. Never being able to play volleyball again, for sure. Tests when we were in school. Probably spiders. But, you? You were always a constant, ever-evolving fear of his. Facing you, comparing himself to you.”

Hinata takes a deep breath. “I’m telling you all of this because I’m friends with you too, Oika-senpai. I think both of you have grown up since then. He freaked you out too, right? He started learning how to play volleyball so young, it sometimes seems like he’s miles ahead. Even I get scared that I won’t be able to keep up.”

Oikawa doesn’t respond, knowing that Hinata isn’t expecting it. They both know he’s right.

“That’s when we just have to keep moving forward, right?” Hinata says, leaning over and squeezing Oikawa’s shoulder before letting go. “I trust you. So don't hurt him, okay?”

Oikawa nods dumbly, but then realizes that he needs to give Hinata a better answer. Both because Hinata is helping him and because he’s Kageyama’s best friend. He deserves a good answer.

“I know that everything Tobio has probably told you seems sudden. I won’t deny that it’s not sudden. After watching your match against him, I couldn't stop thinking about him,” Oikawa explains. “At first, it was about how good he looks. Then it was about how good he _is_ and how much I need to play against him again. I thought about him so much, before I realized it I just wanted to know what he was up to and if he was doing well.”

Oikawa holds Hinata’s gaze, hoping his eyes convey how serious he is. “I didn’t come to Miyagi expecting to see him and start anything. I’m happy I got a chance anyway. I won’t waste it. I don’t want to hurt him.”

Hinata grins and gives him a thumbs up. “Good. I think you both deserve to be happy. I’ll be rooting for you!”

Oikawa thinks Hinata really can be likened to a whirlwind.

The other man stands up and stretches towards the ceiling before shaking out his limbs. “Yosh! Time to practice some volleyball!”

Oikawa finishes the last of his stretching as well, taking a moment to look over at Iwaizumi and Kageyama who are still talking on the other side of the gym. He resolves to talk to Kageyama more seriously about what they both want before the end of his trip. If he wants this to work, that’s the only way to do it.

⛩️

Kindaichi arrives in the middle of their second hour when Kageyama and Oikawa are both using their jump serves to help Takeru with his receives. Hinata is on Takeru’s side, demonstrating his technique and Iwaizumi observes from the sidelines.

“Kindaichi! Good to see you again,” Iwaizumi calls, waving him over.

“Hey. When you told me who would be here, I figured I’d need to see this. How’d we get such a weird group anyway?”

“This might sound stranger to you than the combination of people here, but Oikawa and Kageyama have been spending a lot of time together. They planned this before I was invited,” Iwaizumi explains, gesturing to the two who are alternating serving to Hinata and Takeru.

“You’re right, I do find that hard to believe,” Kindaichi says, watching the ball fly over the net and slam into the ground by Takeru. “I’ll go warm up, then 3-on-3?”

“Yeah. I think we can do Seijoh versus Karasuno. Did you know Oikawa’s nephew chose to go there?”

Kindaichi shakes his head. “Wow, you’re just giving me all kinds of surprises today, Iwaizumi-san.”

He walks away closer to the wall to start his stretching and Iwaizumi turns his attention back to the court, a smirk on his lips. If all goes well, everyone they know will be in for an even bigger surprise.

In the end, they only managed to finish two sets in which each side took one before the local volleyball team arrived for their practice. After a quick cool down, they head out for ramen. It’s abnormally warm out for December, but a pleasant reprieve from the cold of recent days.

Hinata and Takeru are ahead of the group again, talking about how Hinata practiced indoor techniques using beach volleyball. Kageyama and Kindaichi follow behind them with Kageyama asking after Kunimi and the Tamaden Elephants. Their friendship is still a little strained, but it’s obvious they’re both trying.

“When did you decide to invite Kindaichi?” Oikawa asks Iwaizumi, as they trail behind the others.

“After you said it would be a ‘mini reunion’. I invited Kunimi too, but you know how he is. He had some kind of research project he needed to work on.”

“It was a good idea. It was nice being able to play with everyone again.”

Iwaizumi smirks. “And by everyone, you mean Kageyama, right?”

Oikawa bumps his shoulder against Iwaizumi’s. “Iwa-chan, stop bullying me!”

“I think you owe me a shoyu ramen for two days ago.”

Oikawa whines. “You stole my bike and didn’t even bring it with you today!”

“I’ll drop it off at your place tonight, Shittykawa. Don’t you worry, I don’t want any of your clutter.”

“Ugh, you suck. But I guess I’ll buy you ramen as congratulations for your new job,” Oikawa says, throwing his arm around Iwaizumi’s shoulder. “One step closer to your promise of defeating me. Not that I’m going to let that happen.”

“We’ll see about that.”

They stop in front of a small shop, Hinata already opening the door to wave everyone in. “Tanaka-senpai told me about this place! I’ve been meaning to try it.”

There’s a ticket vending machine right as they step in so they take turns putting in their orders and handing their tickets over to the staff.

At the table, Kageyama sits at one of the corners, with Hinata across from him. Oikawa immediately tries to get the seat next to Kageyama, but before he gets there, Kageyama is pulling it out and gesturing for Kindaichi to sit next to him.

Kindaichi throws Iwaizumi a confused look, but takes the seat, starting up a conversation with Kageyama and Hinata about some of the former Karasuno players.

Oikawa doesn’t look happy. Iwaizumi wonders what he did for Kageyama to be so actively avoiding him. He pushes Oikawa to the other side of the table where Takeru has settled in next to Hinata and takes the seat by Kindaichi.

“I saw your match against the Sendai Frogs, Kindaichi-kun. Even though Tsukishima’s so tall, you managed to get a few solid blocks against him!” Hinata exclaims.

“Kindaichi-san, you play professionally too?” Takeru asks excitedly.

“Uh, yeah. I’m a middle blocker for the Tamaden Elephants,” Kindaichi replies, taken aback by the amount of energy the two are exuding.

“And Tsukishima is the really tall player who used to go to Karasuno? I really want to meet him,” Takeru gushes.

“He’s in Tokyo right now or I’d introduce you. Bokuto-san and Kenma both mentioned hanging out with him a few times. I think they have a group together for the first shrine visit of the year. I’m thinking of heading there to join them before making the trip back to Osaka with Bokuto-san.”

“That sounds pretty fun,” Iwaizumi interjects, kicking at Oikawa’s shins under the table to pull him out of his sulking. “I remember doing shrine visits with the team for the new year..”

“It’s really a different experience going with friends versus going with family, huh?” Hinata asks, smiling.

Iwaizumi nods while subtly kicking at Oikawa’s shin again, a little harder this time. He hears a quiet ow.

“Did you visit the temples in Brazil when you were living there, Shoyo? I thought about making the trip once, but never got around to it,” Oikawa pipes up, tone light and cheery, but Iwaizumi can see him glaring at him out of the corner of his eye.

“I went with my beach volleyball partner once. It was a cool experience, but definitely not quite the same as being in Japan.”

“Living abroad seems kind of scary. I think Kageyama and I are the only ones here who haven’t done it. And Takeru of course, but he’s still in high school,” Kindaichi brings up.

Hinata snickers and mock whispers, “Kageyama sucks at languages so it’d be pretty funny if he goes abroad.”

There’s laughter around the table. 

“If an idiot like you can do it, I definitely can,” Kageyama protests grumpily.

“If it’s Spanish, I can teach you, Tobio-chan!” Oikawa offers, and Iwaizumi thinks he doesn’t even realize that he’s leaning in eagerly awaiting Kageyama’s response.

“Oh, um. Thanks, Oikawa-san,” Kageyama says, head bent and looking intently at the table.

There’s just a few seconds too long of awkward silence in which Oikawa noticeably falls back into sulking before their food arrives.

As everyone digs in, Kindaichi leans over to quietly whisper to Iwaizumi, “What’s wrong with them? They’re more awkward than Kageyama and I are. Thought you said they hang out now?”

Iwaizumi shrugs, glancing at Kageyama who is avoiding eye contact with Oikawa. Oikawa looks like he’s ready to beg for attention from the other man. “I don’t know, but they definitely need to figure their shit out.”

Kindaichi hums in agreement and they both turn their attention back to their meals.

Their lunch passes by with quiet conversation about school and volleyball. Eventually they all finish and exit the shop, gathering outside to figure out their next move.

Iwaizumi had always known that Takeru was a smart kid, but he didn’t expect him to be so perceptive.

“Kageyama-san, Tooru, I want to hang out with you guys more but you’re killing the mood! The rest of us are gonna go have fun and you can’t come with us. Go make up or whatever!” Takeru yells, pushing the two of them away from the group.

Kindaichi and Hinata look at each other and burst out laughing while Iwaizumi is sure his own expression is that of a proud parent.

“What the hell, Takeru?” Oikawa yells, but Takeru’s face is determined.

“You’re being worse than all the times you were dumped!” Takeru yells.

Iwaizumi catches the astonishment on Oikawa’s face. The kid is perceptive indeed. Oikawa turns to look at Kageyama, and Iwaizumi has no doubt that everyone can see how red Kageyama is from Takeru’s implication.

Oikawa turns back to Takeru, eyes narrowed. Takeru now has his arms crossed and is clearly not backing down. The rest of the group stand by him, obviously in agreement regarding the situation.

“Fine,” Oikawa says, sticking his tongue out at them. It’s one of those immature actions Iwaizumi can’t seem to get him to stop doing. Throwing out a “You all suck!”, Oikawa grabs a hold of Kageyama’s hand and drags him away.

Once they’re out of sight, Iwaizumi pulls Takeru into a headlock, ruffling at his hair and laughing. “You did good, kid. What do you want to do now? My treat.”

⛩️

As Oikawa pulls them away from the group, Kageyama doesn’t say anything or resist. They end up in a nearby park. Oikawa looks around before continuing down an unmarked path bracketed by trees. “I used to come here all the time with Iwaizumi. I think there’s a tree nearby that we used to always hide in.”

They get to a small, quiet clearing and there’s a big tree right in the middle. Oikawa let’s go of Kageyama and moves closer to the tree, tilting his head to inspect the opening in the base of the trunk. “I guess everything seems big when you’re little,” he muses.

“Oikawa-san,” Kageyama says. Oikawa twists his head to look back at Kageyama. His expression is pinched. He looks upset.

Oikawa sighs and fully turns towards the other man. “Kageyama, I know I’m not the best sometimes, but I’d like to think I’m self-aware enough to know if I did something wrong. I’ve been wracking my brain all day and haven’t come up with a single thing!”

He places his hands on his hips and leans slightly forward with a pout on his lips to ask, “So. Why are you mad at me?”

Kageyama’s frown deepens. “I’m not mad at you.”

“You could have fooled me with that face of yours! And everyone we were just with too!”

Oikawa straightens up and glares at Kageyama whose expression is still the same.

“This is just my face,” Kageyama mutters.

“That’s not true at all, Tobio-chan! You make much cuter faces all the time.”

Kageyama still doesn’t react, so Oikawa sighs and goes to sit down by the tree, patting the ground in front of him. “Come on, sit down. Let’s talk. Tell your dearest senpai what’s wrong.”

Kageyama rather ungracefully plops himself down in front of Oikawa. He takes in a deep breath and asks, “What were you talking to Hinata about at the gym earlier?”

Oikawa blinks at the question. “Huh? Earlier at the gym?”

“Yes. During stretches.”

“Oh. Um. He was just asking me about Argentina,” Oikawa says, unable to keep himself from laughing nervously.

“You’re lying.”

Kageyama glares at him fiercely, angrily. This is a version of Kageyama that Oikawa isn’t used to seeing off the court, confident in his assessments with piercing eyes that look right through him. He can feel his heart thumping just a little harder in his chest, but he keeps his voice steady when he asks, “Why do you want to know?”

He remembers the conversation they had last week about Hinata and hopes.

Kageyama slips the strap of his bag over his head and moves it until it’s in front of him. To anyone, it might seem like he’s just getting comfortable. Oikawa sees it for what it is: a shield. He thinks about what Hinata said. About what Kageyama is scared of. He inhales sharply.

Kageyama places a hand on top of his bag, and Oikawa has to keep himself from reaching out to touch, because his touch is probably far from comforting if he’s the cause of distress. Staring at Kageyama’s hand, Oikawa sees that the bag’s exterior material curves from the pressure of Kageyama’s hand. A volleyball.

Oikawa isn’t surprised that it’s Kageyama’s security blanket of sorts. A sure constant in his life just like it is in Oikawa’s own.

Kageyama is less tense, and his expression softer when he starts to speak, “Hinata and I have competed with each other since the day we met. It started because we were rivals, but then we became teammates and eventually best friends.”

The softness of Kageyama’s tone makes Oikawa anxious for every single word that comes from him. He can feel his heart in his ears. He almost wishes he could use Kageyama’s volleyball himself for comfort right now.

“We keep a count of our wins. We’re at over a thousand each now and there’s a lot of points we don’t remember but some that we’ll never forget. When Hinata sent me that picture of the two of you in Brazil two years ago, I gave him a point for that. For becoming friends with you. He became friends with you so easily when it was something that I wanted to do before I even met him.”

Oikawa forgets how to breathe; doesn’t remember why he kept himself from reaching out before, so he does. He reaches out. He places his hand on top of Kageyama’s, feels the curve of the volleyball beneath both of their hands, and doesn’t let himself think too much before he leans in. Kageyama stills, but he doesn’t move away. Oikawa’s eyes flutter shut and he presses their lips together lightly.

Kageyama’s lips are chapped, likely from the winter cold, and he smells faintly of soy sauce. Oikawa smiles into the kiss and pulls back, just enough to see Kageyama’s whole face clearly.

Kageyama’s cheeks are dusted pink, and from this close, Oikawa can see that the tips of his ears are red too. His eyes are wide and he stutters out, “W-what was that for?”

Yet still he stays.

Oikawa smiles wider, his heart steadying its pace as he becomes more sure that everything will be okay. He slides his hand across Kageyama’s, nudging his way underneath it so that their palms are touching. Kageyama lets him. “I’ve never done that with Shoyo, and I never want to do that with Shoyo. You don’t need to be jealous, Tobio.”

“I-I’m not jealous!” Kagayama yells, a little too forceful, and Oikawa snatches his hand before he can pull away.

“In the gym earlier, Shoyo gave me a shovel talk. You know, the whole ‘if you hurt him, you’re dead’ speech that people give to their best friend’s significant other. That’s all.”

“Si-significant other?”

“We’ve really got to figure out this stutter issue of yours. It’s pretty cute, but it wouldn’t do if you have to film another Power Curry commercial,” Oikawa teases.

“You saw that?” Kageyama groans, and he tries to hide behind his hands, but Oikawa refuses to let go so he only manages half of his face.

“I have it saved on my phone for when I’m feeling down,” Oikawa snickers. “I bet all the free curry was worth it though.”

“It’s good curry,” Kageyama mutters.

He then wrenches his hand away from Oikawa, glaring. “You’re changing the subject!”

Oikawa grabs Kageyama’s wrist and adjusts their fingers until they’re intertwined. “Yeah.”

Using his thumb to rub soothing circles into the top of Kageyama’s hand, Oikawa stares at the movement to keep himself calm. “Do you want to be? Significant others. Because I do. It kind of surprises me how much I want it."

Oikawa is afraid to look at the other man, but he forces himself to. Kageyama peers at him, eyes searching, before asking, “But why? After all these years, why me? Why now?”

Oikawa keeps his circling thumb steady. This is not the first time he’s thought of the answer to this question. He knew it would come up eventually, if not from Kageyama, certainly from someone else. He was surprised when Iwaizumi didn’t ask him, but Iwaizumi apparently saw him better than he saw himself at times.

It’s a valid question; one that Oikawa hasn’t been able to piece a coherent answer to all this time. Why now? Why Kageyama? He thinks about middle school, about watching Kageyama's obvious talent and easy improvement and wanting it to be his. He thinks about high school, and the only two official matches they’ve ever played against each other and not having the chance for more. He thinks about Kageyama at the Olympics and feeling like he was getting left behind. Lastly, he thinks about seeing him again as the other man came back into his life through videos, photos, articles and then in the flesh. 

The answer is simple. The possibility was always there, right from the beginning, but Oikawa had never let it become an option because volleyball was more important to him. To both of them. So instead, it’s been there between them, waiting for the right moment to change. This is it. Now, he thinks, he’s strong enough to want and hold onto both volleyball and this.

Taking a deep breath, Oikawa decides that maybe that answer isn’t the right one for this moment. It’s too overwhelming, too full of emotion that Oikawa isn’t even sure he’s ready for yet. 

Instead, he says, “Why not you? I’ve been chasing you for most of my life. I’ve never even glanced at anyone the same way that I watch you. I feel like all of it, the bad parts and the good, were leading me here. I’ve always thought about you constantly. As a rival, as my kohai, as someone to admire. It’s almost comforting to have you on my mind. And having you outside of it feels right too. I want to give us a try.”

Oikawa waits as Kageyama thinks. Perhaps predictable, and certainly enough to make Oikawa laugh if the moment wasn’t so serious, Kageyama thinks of volleyball first. “But why would you chase me? You’ve always been a better player than me, Oikawa-san.”

Oikawa lets his amusement show on his face. “Maybe, but maybe not. I was better than you years ago, for sure. Like definitely way better. But we’re still at one-to-one in official matches.”

Kageyama continues, “You’re smarter and more sociable.”

Oikawa frowns. “I won’t argue with smarter; that one’s absolutely true. But sociable? We’re just different. You have plenty of friends. Shoyo clearly doesn’t mind your dreadful social skills and neither do I."

“I...I’m only good at volleyball. I suck at everything else. I don’t know if I’d be good enough at this,” Kageyama whispers, a flicker of doubt on his features.

Oikawa lets go of Kageyama’s hand to bring both his own hands up to cup Kageyama’s face, peering into his ocean blue eyes. With all the resolve he can muster, Oikawa says, “I’m not a game you need to win, Tobio. You don’t have to be a genius with me. You know I don’t like geniuses anyway.”

Softly, with a light caress of his thumb on Kageyama’s cheek, he continues, “And I don’t know how to be good at this either, but we’ll be a team. I trust you to support me. Do you trust me?”

Kageyama shakes his head, and Oikawa feels his heart drop. Before he can pull away, Kageyama brings his hand up to place over Oikawa’s; leaning his face into Oikawa’s palm. He closes his eyes, taking in a deep breath. Then exhales.

Oikawa holds his own breath, waiting.

“I don’t know. But I think I want to try.”

The exhale Oikawa releases takes all the tension in his body with it. They’re on the same page. Oikawa just needs to prove himself. And he will. He always follows through when he has a goal.

Oikawa caresses Kageyama’s cheek again and the other man opens his eyes. Oikawa smiles.

“I can work with that,” Oikawa says, pulling his hands away and backing up so he’s not crowding up against Kageyama and his bag anymore. He has a very important question to ask now.

“So, significant others?”

Kageyama nods slowly, and Oikawa breaks into a large grin clapping his hands together happily. “Yay, Tobio-chan! See? No reason to be jealous! Does this mean you get to add a point to your tally against Shoyo?”

Kageyama scowls and pushes himself off the ground to stand, swinging his bag back onto his shoulder. “No way. I’m not letting him compete with me on this.”

He starts walking off without waiting for Oikawa, who rushes to stand up as well, yelling after him, “Hey, where are you going? Don’t just leave without me!”

Kageyama turns back and points in the direction that he’s headed. “There’s a vending machine over there. I want to get milk.”

Muttering about rudeness, lack of cuteness, and milk obsessions, Oikawa rushes after Kageyama and grabs a hold of his hand. Underneath the annoyance, Oikawa’s happiness is overflowing. He swings their hands between them, glad that they can hold hands like this at any time now without pretenses.

“Let’s go out again tomorrow, okay Tobio-chan?” Oikawa asks cheerfully, not wanting to part without planning to see the other man again as soon as possible.

Kageyama shakes his head, grimacing. “I can’t tomorrow. My sister is coming home and I promised her I’d go shopping with her.”

“I ca--”

“No. Shopping with her already sucks, I don’t need you to make it worse.”

“But--”

“No.”

“I just want to hang out with you more before I have to leave!” Oikawa sulkily states. “We only have a week left.”

Kageyama frowns. “Sorry, Oikawa-san. I didn’t think-- know this would happen. I have family stuff most of the weekend. But I think, um, my parents probably won’t mind if I ask to spend New Year’s with friends. The first shrine visit. If you want to go with me.”

“Yes,” Oikawa agrees immediately. “Yes, let’s start our new year with each other. I’ll plan it.”

“Okay,” Kageyama nods, and takes a few more steps before he pauses, turning to look at Oikawa.

“Do you want to go to the bakery near Seijoh instead? It’s your favorite, right?”

Oikawa’s mouth parts and he tightens his grip on Kageyama’s hand, resisting the sudden, overwhelming urge to pull him in for a kiss right then and there in the middle of a public park. Instead, he asks, “How do you know that?”

Kageyama shrugs. “I heard you talking to Iwaizumi-san about it once. After practice at Kitagawa.”

“And you remembered?”

Kageyama shrugs again. “Do you want to go or not?”

Oikawa nods, then tugs at Kageyama’s hand until he’s standing a little closer. Kageyama is full of surprises, and Oikawa is overcome with emotion at finding this out. 

“I’m cold, so let me steal some of your warmth,” Oikawa mumbles, turning to face the direction of the bakery. Kageyama doesn’t move away.

Their fingers are tightly intertwined, the distance between them a hair’s breadth as they walk side by side.

Oikawa could get used to this, but he knows it’s a bad idea when time is lacking and distance will be against them soon. He’ll just have to savor every moment and imprint them in his memories to tide him over until the next time they meet. Because there will always be a next time. He'll make sure of it.

**December 31, 2018**

Oikawa chews lightly at his lip as he swipes his keycard over the RFID reader under the door handle. The door clicks open and he pushes his way in.

He drops his backpack on the armchair by the window and drapes his winter outerwear over it as well.

He isn’t trying to be presumptuous, booking a hotel room to spend time with Kageyama. He even got one with two beds. It’s just, with so little time left before he has to head back to Argentina, even the time when they’re both sleeping seems more appealing together than apart.

Oikawa pulls out his phone to see if Kageyama has responded within the past 30 minutes that it took Oikawa to travel to the hotel by bus. The hotel is close to the temple that they’d pick out together, so they could go in the early hours of the morning and not miss out on too much sleep.

As if he knew Oikawa was looking for him, a message notification from Kageyama pops up on the screen. 

> **Tobio-chan <3**
> 
> I have to hand deliver some New Year’s cards for my mom, but they’re on the way to the bus station so I’ll be able to catch the 5 PM. Be there in about an hour.
> 
> **Me**
> 
> See you soon!!! (♡ ὅ ◡ ὅ )ʃ♡

Setting an alarm for 45 minutes, Oikawa flops down onto the bed closest to the window and snuggles into the pillow. He thinks, as he drifts off, that a short nap before Kageyama arrives will allow him to stay up later when the other man is finally with him.

⛩️

Blinking to awareness, Oikawa realizes that the room is dark, but there’s a glow coming from his left side. He gasps, sitting up, when he realizes he must have slept through his alarm.

“Oh, Oikawa-san. You’re awake,” Kageyama says, looking over at him with his phone in his hands, screen showing a video of a volleyball match. He’s sitting on the same bed, less than an arm’s reach away.

“Tobio-chan, when did you get here?!” Oikawa exclaims, scrambling into a more comfortable sitting position so that he’s facing Kageyama.

“Hmm,” Kageyama looks upwards in thought. Oikawa briefly thinks about how cute it makes him look. “My sister offered to deliver the cards and drive me, so I managed to get on the 4:30 bus. I think I got in around 5:15. Your alarm went off a little after I got here, but you seemed pretty tired so I switched it off. Sorry.”

Oikawa groans. “Tobio-chan, I’m the one who should apologize. I made a big deal about spending time together, and I slept all that time away.”

Kageyama rolls his eyes at him, so Oikawa turns a glare on him for treating his guilt so lightly. Tapping on his phone, Kageyama holds it up so Oikawa can see the time. It’s only 6 PM.

Oikawa’s jaw drop. He quickly grabs the pillow he was sleeping on and throws it at Kageyama who easily catches it at the short range. Oikawa folds his arms in front of him and pouts.

“I was really worried I made us miss dinner! I can’t believe you tricked me!” Oikawa mutters.

Kageyama shrugs. “I wasn’t trying to. But I am really hungry now, so can we go eat?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Oikawa grumbles, rolling off the bed and walking over to the bathroom to freshen up. “What do you want to eat?”

“It’s the new year, so maybe hot soba? But we can get that tomorrow instead right? Maybe curry instead.”

Oikawa combs through his hair to fluff it back up before heading back out into the room.

“So predictable, Tobio-chan! Lucky for me. I did my research and already found a curry place nearby that has good reviews,” Oikawa says walking past Kageyama who is still sitting on the bed to grab his coat and scarf. Kageyama stands to put on his outerwear which he had thrown haphazardly on the other bed.

Pulling on his gloves, Oikawa checks to make sure his wallet and keycard are in his pocket before making his way out the door. He holds it open so Kageyama can slip out behind him.

As they walk down the hall and out the front entrance, Oikawa is tempted to pull Kageyama’s hand out of his pocket so he can hold it again. He doesn’t remember wanting to touch quite this much in his previous relationships, but maybe it’s exclusive to the serious, long-term kind. He’s never wanted serious and long-term the way he does now. He hopes Kageyama wants the same thing even with Oikawa’s departure looming in their future. Oikawa thought being given a chance would be enough, but he already finds himself wanting more.

Oikawa wants to be able to hold Kageyama’s hand and confirm that the other man is there with him and not just a figment of his imagination. In November, he could have only dreamed of such a thing. Everything has changed so quickly in the past week and a half, that Oikawa sometimes wonders if it has all, in fact, been a fever dream.

“Oikawa-san, are you okay?” Kageyama’s voice shakes him out of his thoughts, and he focuses to see Kageyama has stopped in front of him, peering at him worriedly.

“I’m great, Tobio-chan!” Oikawa smiles. “Couldn’t be better!”

Kageyama raises an eyebrow at him. “Okay. But do you know where we’re going?”

“Um…,” Oikawa glances around, before pulling his phone out to look up the restaurant. He laughs nervously. “We were supposed to go in the other direction from the hotel?”

Kageyama lets out a snort and shakes his head. “Are you sure you’re okay? You can go back to sleep if you want. I can eat by myself.”

“No!” Oikawa yells, reaching out to grip both of Kageyama’s arms. Kageyama startles and pulls both his hands out of his pockets to grip back at Oikawa in order to stabilize their balance.

They stand there for a couple beats before Kageyama lets go first. Oikawa follows suit, embarrassed. When they start walking back the other way, Oikawa is surprised when Kageyama holds his hand out between them. Did Kageyama read his mind somehow?

“You’re being spacy. Don’t want you walking into the street by accident,” Kageyama says nonchalantly, but Oikawa can see a tinge of pink at the tip of his ear.

Grasping onto Kageyama’s hand, Oikawa swings it between them and grins. “You don’t need an excuse to hold my hand, Tobio-chan! You just need to ask.”

Oikawa tightens his grip so Kageyama can’t even pretend to pull away. 

“Whatever,” Kageyama mutters, but he squeezes back.

Oikawa beams, a skip in his step, as he drags them over to the restaurant.

⛩️

They spend two hours eating dinner leisurely, Oikawa emboldened by Kageyama initiating their hand holding to play footsie under the table. He only stops when Kageyama kicks him hard enough to bring tears to his eyes. To be fair, he probably did go a little too high, and Kageyama had reacted more reflexively than on purpose. Damn, did it hurt though.

Oikawa manages to get a promise from Kageyama that he’ll make it up to him later, which throws Kageyama into ten minutes of deep thought on what to do. He ignores Oikawa for the whole ten minutes. Oikawa’s foot itches to touch Kageyama again, but his shin still smarts as a reminder that he should probably give them some time before trying to play footsie again. 

At the end of dinner, Kageyama quietly pulls up a listing for a space-themed dessert cafe a 10 minute bus ride away. It seems like Oikawa wasn’t the only one to do some research on things they could do together. Contentment blooms in Oikawa’s chest, so warm, he almost feels like he could walk outside without his coat on. They have three hours before midnight, so Oikawa eagerly agrees to go.

When they’re outside again, Kageyama wordlessly grabs his hand with no hesitation. As every second passes, Oikawa thinks about how much he wants to kiss Kageyama again. He’ll take a chaste kiss, if that’s what Kageyama will give him. He’ll take what he can get.

At the cafe, Kageyama lets Oikawa order for both of them, so he gets an alien parfait made with matcha ice cream and an alien-shaped macaron to share. He makes sure to take photos for his Instagram, cropping to make sure Kageyama isn’t visible in the pictures. One day he’ll be able to post pictures of the other man on his social media, but not yet.

Kageyama excuses himself as Oikawa is scooping up the last of the parfait, so Oikawa pulls out his phone to check for messages while he’s gone. There are a few early New Year’s wishes and a short message from Iwaizumi to “not fuck up”. Oikawa fumes quietly at that and types back a response.

> **Me**
> 
> I’ll have you know that I’ve been a perfect gentleman so far!
> 
> **Iwa-chan**
> 
> Good. I told Kageyama to tell me if you do anything untoward
> 
> **Me**
> 
> Excuse me!!! You’re my best friend! You’re supposed to give /him/ the shovel talk!!! (＃`Д´)
> 
> **Iwa-chan**
> 
> :)

Oikawa huffs and puts his phone away, crossing his arms and pouting. Kageyama returns then, dropping a sparkly star-print gift bag in front of him. He frowns down at Oikawa.

“What’s wrong with you? I’ve only been gone for 10 minutes,” Kageyama says, plopping back into his seat.

Oikawa immediately brightens at the gift, so he waves off Kageyama’s question. “Nothing! What’s this?”

He picks up the bag and shakes it, the mint green tissue paper rustling as something moves inside.

“The point of me giving it to you is so that you can open it and figure that out for yourself.”

Oikawa sticks his tongue out at Kageyama, but pulls the tissue paper out of the bag and looks inside. There are two things: a cute little acrylic keychain of an alien in a UFO that has a tag that claims it glows in the dark and an alien amigurumi doll.

“Oh my god! This is definitely going on my apartment keys! And I know exactly where I’ll put this so I can see it every day,” Oikawa exlaims excitedly.

Kageyama’s lips quirk up, almost imperceptibly, and he stands up to pull his coat on. “I took care of the bill already. This makes up for kicking you, right?”

Oikawa finds himself pouting again, this time to look cute rather than out of annoyance. “Is that the only reason you bought me gifts?”

Kageyama nods. “Well, yeah. You’re kind of annoying when you think you’ve been slighted.”

Gripping the handle of the bag, Oikawa uses it to lightly swat at Kageyama’s shoulder. “You’re so rude now, Tobio-chan! Which one of your high school senpais taught you such bad behavior? Was it Mr. Refreshing?”

“Mr. Refreshing?” Kageyama questions with a tilt of his head.

Oikawa nods and starts their walk back to the hotel. “The other setter during your first year. With the silver hair and beauty mark.”

“Oh, Sugawara-san. He actually did encourage us to break the rules sometimes.”

“Wait, really?”

Kageyama nods. “I think he thought it was funny to rile Daichi-san up.”

Oikawa smiles, but it drops from his face when he thinks about it. With a soft sigh, he says, “I’m glad you had good senpai. After me.”

Kageyama doesn’t respond, but he does slip his hand into Oikawa’s again, enveloping his hand in warmth. He’s rubbing tiny circles into the back of Oikawa’s hand, barely noticeable through the gloves, but comforting all the same. Oikawa presses on.

“Can you forgive me, do you think?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t forgiven you,” Kageyama says firmly with no hesitation. He stops and turns to face Oikawa.

“It kind of sucked and it probably affected me more than I knew at the time, but there were a lot of other things going on with me in middle school that made me the way I was,” Kageyama starts.

Oikawa keeps his eyes on him, listening.

“I was terrified of facing you on the court in high school. I could never pinpoint why back then, but I think I just didn’t want to admit that you were so much better than me. I didn’t understand how good someone could be until I met you.”

“But I always said things then to make you think you were less,” Oikawa says, horrified.

He’s always thought back on his ridiculous, emotion-fueled actions from the past, but never really thought of the way his words could have affected Kageyama. He tenses. How could he possibly deserve to be by the other man’s side?

Kageyama reaches out to grab Oikawa’s other hand and Oikawa freezes.

“But looking past all of that, we had fun, right? Playing against each other?”

Oikawa, unable to find his voice through the lump in his throat, merely nods.

“When I was first learning volleyball, I was really young. By the time I started playing against other kids my age, I never found it challenging enough. But I loved it so much, I kept playing anyway. My grandfather said to me that if I kept playing and got really good, someone who’s even better will come along to find me. I didn’t understand what he meant until I met you.”

Kageyama’s gaze doesn’t waver and Oikawa still doesn’t know how to respond, letting himself process what Kageyama is telling him.

Kageyama sighs and continues. “So even though you weren’t nice to me or whatever, I still managed to learn a lot from you and it made me happy. Plus I went to Nationals every year I was in high school and you didn’t, so...”

He trails off with a smirk.

“Hey!” Oikawa snaps, before his eyes widen, realizing what Kageyama just did. The other man doesn’t usually talk so much but he did just now, before Oikawa could doubt himself and their new relationship. He’d read Oikawa so well. And he'd managed to get Oikawa out of his own head so easily. 

Searching Kageyama’s eyes, Oikawa thinks he must want this relationship the same way Oikawa does, right? They’re fueled by the same passion they’ve instilled in each other. Oikawa doesn’t know why he ever worried that the other wanted anything less. He did always overthink things. He steels himself for his next move.

“Tobio...Can I kiss you?”

Kageyama looks shocked, pulling himself back a bit but doesn’t let go of Oikawa’s hands. “W-what?”

Oikawa huffs, brows furrowed. “A kiss, Tobio! Lip on lip contact. Like the other day but maybe with mo—“

Kageyama’s hand is large and heavy and comforting against the back of his neck, pulling him forward. Oikawa has to bring his newly freed hand up to Kageyama’s shoulder to steady himself from the sudden movement. His breath catches with the blue of Kageyama’s eyes so close to him, their breaths mingling between them, tickling at Oikawa’s skin. He tilts his head and closes his eyes, slotting their mouths together and feeling Kageyama respond with just as much fervor as he himself feels, tongues brushing against each other, hot and warm and wet.

They pull apart after a few seconds with a quiet pop, still pressed up against each other, cheeks flushed. Kageyama slides the hand on Oikawa’s neck down to Oikawa’s arm, a strong and steady presence anchoring him in the moment. Oikawa looks at Kageyama, admiring how pretty he looks with his dazed blue eyes and slightly swollen lips. A quiet laugh bubbles out from him. It startles Kageyama, whose eyes sharpen and focus on him.

Oikawa smiles softly. “Tobio. I really, really like you.”

He leans in to kiss him again, chastely this time. A light touch. Oikawa feels so happy. When he pulls away, Kageyama squeezes his arm.

“Oikawa-san, I—“

Oikawa stops him quickly by placing his hand over his mouth.

“Wait. Can you call me, Tooru? Please?”

When Kageyama nods, Oikawa puts his hand back on the other man’s shoulder. He’s so excited, he’s practically bouncing in place.

“Okay. Go ahead. I’m ready. Let’s hear it.”

Kageyama rolls his eyes but obliges. He takes a deep breath, knocks his forehead lightly against Oikawa’s, and says, “Tooru, I like you too.”

Even though he knew it was coming, Oikawa’s heart thumps rapidly in his chest and he lets out a squeal, which has Kageyama letting go and backing away, covering his ears.

“Oika—Tooru. What the hell?” Kageyama says with a wince.

“I’m happy, okay? Come on, let’s go, let’s go! I want to go back to the hotel and make out.”

“What are we? High schoolers?” Kageyama grumbles, shoving his hands in his pockets and starting up their walk again.

Oikawa places his hands on his hips and yells after him indignantly, “You can’t fool me! I know you want to make out as much as I do!”

He jogs to catch up, shoving himself up against Kageyama, and sliding his hand into Kageyama’s pocket. Kageyama’s ears redden, but he doesn’t pull away.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s hurry up. We still have to go to the shrine too.”

⛩️

In the hotel room, they don’t end up making out, choosing instead to take turns in the shower. Oikawa is tempted to invite Kageyama to join him, but stops himself. They just had their first kiss with tongue. Oikawa doesn’t want to move too fast in case it scares Kageyama away.

When they switch, Oikawa quickly styles his hair in the mirror before grabbing his backpack and placing it on the hotel room desk. He glances at the little alien that he had set out earlier, unable to keep the smile from his face. Unzipping his backpack, he pulls out the leather cow he’d picked up on a whim back in Argentina.

He hopes it’ll be as much of a reminder of him for Kageyama as the alien will be of Kageyama for him.

When Kageyama exits the bathroom, Oikawa is curled up on his bed, cuddling with the cow.

He holds it out and wiggles it. “Tobio! I got this for you when I was in Argentina. Isn’t it cute?”

Kageyama, still drying his hair off with his towel, looks over at Oikawa in confusion. “In Argentina? Why would you have gotten me something then?”

Oikawa wiggles it at Kageyama again. “Come on, just take it! It reminded me of you when I was out shopping so I bought it. I would have just kept it if I didn’t see you.”

Kageyama walks over, gently taking it from Oikawa’s hand and turning to place it on the other bed. He places a knee on Oikawa’s bed and leans down.

Oikawa shifts, grabbing onto both ends of the towel around Kageyama’s neck, to pull him down until their lips meet. Kageyama doesn’t pull away, instead moving until he’s leaning directly over Oikawa, licking into his mouth and deepening the kiss. Oikawa sighs happily and whines when Kageyama pulls away.

“We should head out if we want to get into the shrine at midnight.” He moves off the bed, heading back into the bathroom to hang his towel up.

Oikawa groans, “You’re such a tease.”

He motions at Kageyama with grabby hands when he comes back out of the bathroom and gets excited when Kageyama steps over to him. Unfortunately, Kageyama just grabs both of his hands and drags him from the bed.

“Wahh!” Oikawa yelps, falling onto the ground with a thud.

“Shrine. It’s already 11:45,” Kageyama says, walking over to where he draped his coat over the desk chair, pulling it on.

Oikawa grumbles, but gets up to get ready too.

When they get there, there’s a small crowd of people waiting for the bells to ring when they reach the stairs leading to the shrine. Kageyama makes a comment that it’s definitely way less crowded than shrines in Tokyo.

**January 1, 2019**

When the bell tolls, Oikawa pulls Kageyama’s gloved hand to his lips, placing light kisses on his fingertips. “Happy new year, Tobio.”

Kageyama smiles at him, open and unhidden. It’s an expression Oikawa feels like he’s been waiting for this whole time. It’s a gift. 

“Happy new year, Tooru. Time to head up.”

Oikawa hasn’t done a shrine visit in so long, ascending the stairs after the bell tolls feels like a grand ceremony somehow. He looks at Kageyama, glad to have the other man by his side. They bow together at the gates.

“Hey, you’ll walk me through all the steps, right? I don’t really remember them.”

Kageyama nods. He quietly relays the cleansing process as they approach the water fountain.

Afterwards, they walk through the shrine grounds, bathed in the warm glow of lanterns, and Oikawa thinks about how this scenery makes him miss Japan. His home country really is a beautiful place. He knows that years down the line, he’ll choose to come back to settle down here. Glancing at Kageyama, he wonders and hopes for their future.

Kageyama pulls his hand out of his pockets, holding it out to show Oikawa. There are two 100 yen coins. “For prayer,” he says.

Oikawa thanks him and takes one. Kageyama tells him the steps, and when they step up to the building, they both throw their coins into the box. They take turns ringing the bell, bow deeply twice, and clap their hands twice. In his mind, Oikawa thanks the spirits for his career, his health, and for allowing him his recent happiness embodied in the man beside him. He wishes for blessings for their future, wondering if Kageyama is doing the same. 

Taking one last deep bow, he steps away, waiting for Kageyama to finish as well.

“Shall we go buy fortunes?” Oikawa asks, when Kageyama approaches him.

Kageyama nods. He’s being quieter than usual, deep in thought. It makes Oikawa antsy, but he’s not sure he should pry.

Making their way over to the shop, Oikawa pulls out his wallet to buy their fortunes, but Kageyama pulls away from him and walks off before he can ask for them. Apologizing to the person at the shop and saying he’ll be back, Oikawa attempts to follow Kageyama. They’re taller than most of the people around them, so it isn’t too hard to find him.

When he gets to Kageyama, the other man is handing over a few bills at an omamori stall. Kageyama turns to him, and tilts his head over to the side where there isn’t a crowd gathered.

Worried by Kageyama’s strange behavior, Oikawa decides that he should just ask, even if it’s prying. “Are you okay? You’ve been quiet.”

Kageyama nods again. He takes in a deep breath, and Oikawa can see him pulling his shoulders back and straightening up.

“Here,” Kageyama says, holding out an omamori.

Oikawa takes the charm into his hand, reading the kanji on the front to see that it’s to protect relationships.

“We don’t have the strongest foundation, and we’ll probably struggle with the distance…If we both have these charms…”

Kageyama holds his hand out to show that he has the same one.

“And they only last a year, so we’ll have to come back together next year to give them back and get new ones.”

Oikawa can’t help the tears that start spilling from his eyes, using his sleeve to rub at them as the dam breaks. “What the hell, Tobio? When did you become such a romantic?”

“Gah, why are you crying?” Kageyama panics, pulling Oikawa behind the large stone lantern that they’re standing near before they catch anyone’s attention.

“I’ll definitely be back next year with you, Tobio. But you have to promise to come visit me in Argentina before that,” Oikawa says through his sniffles.

“Yes. I promise I’ll visit. And you should come see me in Tokyo too,” Kageyama responds, bringing his hands up to softly brush the tears flowing down Oikawa’s face. He reaches into his pocket to pull out a pack of tissues, handing it over. “Tissues?"

“Wow, this sure brings back memories,” Oikawa chuckles through his tears, taking the tissues and attempting to make himself look presentable again.

“Maybe you just cry too much,” Kageyama teases, pulling a tissue out of the pack and lightly dabbing at Oikawa’s eyes.

Oikawa sniffles. “Come on. I still want fortunes. Then let’s go back to the hotel.”

“Okay,” Kageyama says, taking the tissues from Oikawa and depositing back into his pocket.

Oikawa pays for their fortunes, both of them receiving “future blessings”. They quickly tie them to one of the trees before making their way back to the hotel. When they get there, Oikawa does his nightly routine first, choosing to skip his skincare routine due to his exhaustion. He climbs into bed.

When Kageyama comes back out, he all but ignores the second bed, only turning towards it briefly to pet the leather cow, before lifting the cover on Oikawa’s bed and climbing in.

Oikawa scoots back a little, making room for him, before snuggling up to him and pulling him into his arms.

“Hey, Tobio?” Oikawa yawns, before letting out a sleepy sigh.

“Yeah?”

“I thought you’d be a lot more shy about everything, but you’ve actually been really confident. I guess I’m surprised.”

Kageyama shifts, pulling back so they’re looking at each other. “You usually make me really nervous, but it’s your smiles. You’ve been smiling a lot more with me. Real smiles, not your fake ones. I figured that meant something.”

His emotions are still running on high, so Oikawa has to blink away his tears before he starts crying again. “You’ve been full of surprises, Tobio. I really am happy.”

Kageyama moves in, burying his face in Oikawa’s shoulder. “It’s cold and I‘m sleepy,” he mumbles. “Good night, Tooru.”

Oikawa presses a kiss to the other man’s temple and closes his eyes, taking in the faint scent of citrus as soft, dark hair tickles at his nose. He has never been a religious man, but, he thinks, this is one temple that he could worship at for the rest of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> When I say this was self-indulgent, I really mean it. I hadn't even watched most of the anime when I started writing this and I'm only partially through the manga. I just really wanted to see Oikage together and happy, even if it's kinda cheesy. Anyway, this was writing practice for me. I'm hoping I'll get better and write more! I'm considering writing a continuation of this or Kageyama's POV but I'm not sure yet.
> 
> I did research, but I can't for sure say it was _good_ research, so sorry if I got any of the details wrong!
> 
> Also, it's Kageyama's birthday when I post this. Happy birthday, Kageyama Tobio!
> 
> Feel free to come chat with me on Twitter [@mmshokupan](https://twitter.com/mmshokupan)! I'm not super active, but I do like to talk to people


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